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Sonoma Valley hotel workers accuse company of ‘union busting’

Feb 14, 2023

Sonoma Valley hotel workers accuse company of ‘union busting’

Last Thursday, roughly 250 workers and their supporters gathered in front of the tony Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn, lighting white candles as the sun fell.

Attendees gathered to condemn the hotel’s efforts to discourage workers from joining Unite Here Local 2, which represents 15,000 hospitality workers in Sonoma County and throughout the Bay Area.

Last May, Toronto-based investment giant Brookfield Asset Management purchased the 226-room Mission Inn as part of a $3.8-billion purchase of 25 hotels across 14 states. On the weekend of Feb. 18, rooms at the luxury hotel cost $560 per night and up.

In a press release, Unite Here claims that Fairmont and its consultants “have engaged in threats, intimidation, and coercion” to fight the union effort.

In November, the hotel hired Quest Consulting, a Las Vegas-based union avoidance consulting company. Federal filings don’t show how much the company has paid Quest and other subcontractors so far.

Fairmont Unite Here protest - February 2023

Union discouragement efforts are quite common, with companies nationwide paying consultants roughly $340 million per year to avoid union votes, according to a 2019 Economic Policy Institute report. In 2021, Sonoma County-based frozen food manufacturer Amy’s Kitchen, which Teamsters Local 665 is attempting to organize, hired Quest and other consultants, according to federal filings.

Unite Here claims Fairmont’s anti-union efforts were too aggressive, violating the workers’ right to decide whether or not to join a union. In January, the union filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging the hotel threatened and surveilled employees involved in the union effort. The NLRB has not ruled on the case.

Regarding the hotel’s “union busters,” Erik Baumgartner, a driver and valet at the hotel, said: “I want the hotel to know that we’re not afraid. They shouldn’t try to mislead us or confuse us, because it’s not going to work. My coworkers and I are going to make the best decision for ourselves—and that’s the union.”

In an emailed response to questions, Michelle Heston, a Fairmont spokesperson, stated, “Our team members are the most important asset we have, and we are proud of the positive, open and trusting relationship we have with them. Our top priority is to create a superior employee experience that enables, motivates and inspires our team to deliver the best possible guest experience. We value the contribution our employees make daily to the hotel and the community in which we operate.”

Heston did not address direct questions about Unite Here’s NLRB complaint or why the hotel hired Quest Consulting.

Sonoma County studies pension policy as retirement benefits lose value

Will Carruthers

Feb 14, 2023

Sonoma County studies pension policy as retirement benefits lose value

With inflation eating away at their pension benefits, some Sonoma County employees and retirees are feeling the squeeze.

At a Feb. 7 Board of Supervisors meeting, current and former employees urged the county’s top elected officials to help.

During the meeting, Bill Robotka, a member of Sonoma County Association of Retired Employees’ board of directors, who retired from a county job in 2000, said that, of the roughly 5,200 current county pension recipients, over 2,000 receive less than $2,000 per month.

Inflation has many workers and retirees struggling with high costs these days, but former employees of Sonoma County have a unique problem among Bay Area public servants. That’s because, unlike all other nearby county pension funds, Sonoma County Employees’ Retirement Association does not offer a baked-in inflation protection. Many other pensions offer a 2% per year automatic cost-of-living-adjustment—COLA—which helps pensioners keep up with rising costs.

Over the course of a worker’s retirement, the lack of an automatic inflation protection adds up to a lot of lost value.

According to a UC Berkeley Labor Center report released in late January, “Current SCERA retirees who began to collect benefits in 2000 have lost 42% of their pension to inflation. Between the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 and November 2022, SCERA retirees saw their purchasing power decline by 13%.”

“It puts a large number of our pensioners or retirees under a lot of pressure, and it’s gonna get worse… We’re facing ever increasing prices. And frankly, a large number of our folks just cannot keep up,” Robotka, the retired county employee, said at the supervisors’ Feb. 7 meeting.

Instead of an automatic COLA, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, under certain conditions, has the ability to pass a one-time increase to SCERA benefits in order to match changes in cost of living. However, because of the way the current COLA rules are written, the supervisors have not done so since 2008. That’s leaving some retirees struggling to get by and likely causing some current workers to question whether they should stay with Sonoma County.

In an email, SCERA’s CEO Julie Wyne said that, “SCERA has been unable to recommend a COLA [to the Board of Supervisors] since 2008 and is unlikely to be able to recommend one in the future unless some policy changes are made.”

In December, with pressure mounting to revisit the issue, Wyne presented information about the history of the COLA at a meeting of the SCERA Retirement Board and announced the formation of a committee to study the history of the COLA policy and, possibly, recommend changes.

It is unclear when the committee will finish its work. Any changes will be made by the Board of Supervisors.

Asked about the possible policy changes allowing for more COLAs, Chris Coursey, chair of the Board of Supervisors and a member of the COLA study committee, said in an email, “[The decision to grant COLAs] would have significant financial implications for the county, and such a decision would need to be made in the context of understanding the fiscal impacts throughout the county budget. I support retiree COLAs, but a lot of fiscal study needs to be completed before I would be able to vote on this issue.”

Love notes on lasting romance

Nikki Silverstein

Feb 9, 2023

For many people, the arrival of Cupid conjures up thoughts of love and romance. That nonsense isn’t for me, so I typically contemplate the miracle of dark chocolate.

This year, however, I decided to look into the hoopla about this crazy little thing called love. My investigation led me to this newspaper’s very own Trivia master, Howard Rachelson, and his vivacious wife, Evi. The couple will celebrate their 50^th wedding anniversary in August.

The Rachelsons invited me to their home for “soup, salad and discussion.” It was three hours of sheer delight. Not only are they excellent storytellers, finishing each other’s sentences, but they also see eye to eye about what makes their marriage work.

They met in 1971, when Evi was on a solo trip to America from her native Switzerland. A mutual friend gave her Howard’s phone number and she called out of the blue to ask if she could stay with him at his Washington D.C. apartment. He agreed.

“But he didn’t pick me up from the bus station,” Evi said.

From there, Evi gallivanted across the country, sometimes with Howard in tow when he was on break from pursuing his master’s in mathematics. They hitchhiked and rode buses together – falling in love along the way.

Eventually, it was time for Evi to renew her visa. She could be given a few more days or another six months in the country. To improve her chances of a longer visit, Evi wrote the word “love” in her answer to almost every question on the application.

Q: Where are you staying?

A: With my lover.

Q: Reason for visa renewal?

A: To stay with my love.

Although granted the max–that time and the next–the young relationship wasn’t without problems. For instance, Evi chose July 29, as their wedding day. Howard put his foot down – they simply couldn’t wed on a date with a prime number.

The Rachelsons spent their honeymoon backpacking in Europe on five bucks a day for almost a year. Their love of travel continues today. They’ve visited 96 countries and counting. Somehow, they also found time to become teachers and have two children.

Even the birth of their daughter was an adventure. As Howard drove to Kaiser in San Francisco, Evi delivered their baby in the back of the hatchback.

Fortune, they agree, brought them together, but they’ve learned some secrets during the last 430,000 hours about remaining that way. The Rachelsons say their life is never monotonous.

“I feel like Ricky Ricardo,” Howard says. “Evi’s so unpredictable, I never know what kind of a mess she’s getting us into.”

Evi also credits their shared sense of humor for helping their marriage stay tethered. But the partners say serious aspects of their relationship contribute to its longevity, too.

Topping the list are their similar rhythms and interests, mutual respect and spending time apart on individual pursuits. They also refrain from finding fault in each other.

“When Howard is making noise with his massage chair and eating popcorn, I don’t criticize,” Evi said.

The couple never argues about minor issues. They don’t argue about the big stuff either. Instead, they talk about it and arrive at a “reasonable conclusion.”

It hasn’t always been a picnic, according to Howard, who moves his hands through the air to demonstrate the difference between couples who grow apart and those who weather the storms. During the ebb and flow experiences of their marriage, they didn’t drift too far from each. They stayed centered and grew together.

And they are best friends.

“With Howard, my heart told me this is it,” Evi said. “This is it.”