HIDDEN VALLEY LAKE, Calif. – Representatives of Local 324 of the Laborers’ International Union have begun a fourth week of picketing against the Hidden Valley Lake Association in front of the community's golf course.
Spokespeople from both sides appeared no closer to agreement on the issues of:
– Take home pay of more than $12 for the 13 strikers involved;
– A disagreement over out-of-pocket health insurance; and
– An association demand for a $1.95 reduction in health and welfare benefits, and payment of a greater out-of-pocket health care by employees.
HVLA management, meantime, has charged that the union is engaging in illegal actions during the strike, the most egregious being attempts by the pickets are attempting to cause secondary boycotts by other companies when they try to deliver goods and services to the Hidden Valley Lake community; and that the union is permissible picketing on private property.
Asked about these charges, union representative Maggie Campbell asserted “They (companies) will not cross the picket line.”
To the question of when the picketers will go back to work, Campbell responded, “Why don’t you ask Cindy (Spears, HVL general manager) that.”
As for whether what is taking place is a picket or a strike, Spears, in turn, suggested that question be put to the union.
“We do feel that we're at an impasse with the union,” she said.
George Griffin, Local 324's vice president, has not responded to calls from Lake County News seeking comment on the situation.
To emphasize their displeasure with the association, the HVLA union staffers on the picket line are now accompanied by a giant inflatable rat, chomping on a cigar, with large dollar bills spilling out of one of his pockets.
The two sides haven't been to the negotiations table since January, Spears said.
The union has several grievances pending against the association with the National Labor Relations Board.
According to the board's records the union filed additional grievances last week over lockout, bad faith bargaining, changes in employment terms and conditions, discipline and concerted activities such as retaliation, discharges and discipline.
Spears said the employees weren't locked out, but that the union failed to inform its workers that they were picketing. When they came into work one morning, their superintendent told them they should check first with their union representative.
Altogether, the National Labor Relations Board's Web site shows more than a dozen open grievances that the union has filed against HVLA.
Spears maintains that a number of union-filed grievances have been dismissed and that the union is abusing the grievance process.
The association, in turn, has filed several grievances with the National Labor Relations Board regarding the union’s failure to bargain in good faith, she said.
Spears said the union has filed grievance after grievance, starting with one filed not long after she arrived. She purchased sandwiches for staff to sit down and talk, and the union filed a grievance accusing her of working with staff without a union representative present.
The National Labor Relations Board's regional staff has consolidated the investigation into the union's allegations of unfair labor practices by HVLA into one case.
The board's investigator decided to file a complaint against HVLA based on the unfair labor practice charges.
Spears said the filing of the complaint is the beginning of the process and does not prove anything, but starts the process by which the union and the association will present evidence at a hearing on June 15 in Santa Rosa.
The association is confident it will be able to present witnesses and evidence of its bargaining attempts during the hearing and succeed in having the complaint dismissed.
Based on National Labor Relations Board data, only a fraction of charges alleging unfair labor practices result in the agency issuing complaints detailing the alleged violations.
Impacts of the picket
Because of the picket, 15 unionized staff haven't been showing up to work. Spears said that has necessitated other staff – including seasonal workers and administration – to fill in on jobs like mowing lawns and cleaning bathrooms just to keep things rolling.
“It cripples you in a hospitality-type setting,” she said.
The union employees and the association have been operating without a new collective bargaining agreement since early 2014, according to Spears.
She said the association has made four offers – based on the financial issues associated with the golf course and a need to have better rules in place for the operation and supervision of the maintenance staff – for a new collective bargaining agreement during the negotiation process, but none have been accepted.
“It's hard to negotiate when someone doesn't respond to the proposal,” Spears said.
She said the previous collective bargaining agreement expired and an impasse was reached after the union voted to reject the association's final offer in December 2013 and January 2014.
Since that time, Spears said the union has not made any changes to its previous pre-impasse bargaining positions. It also has refused to give the association a shop steward.
Spears said the association began negotiating again with the union in October. She said the union has failed to bargain in good faith – including not discussing issues face-to-face – and that union representatives called Hidden Valley Lake a “god forsaken place.”
In an interview last fall, Griffin acknowledged to Lake County News that he had made that comment.
According to Spears, the union also did not include any of the employees during the first three bargaining sessions, and during the fourth bargaining session, they had multiple employees take the day off and then refused to let them talk about the specific issues at the table.
The association, according to Spears, requested very simplistic job rule changes, including prohibitions against sleeping on the job and smoking while using gas-powered engines. She said the union wouldn't agree to those proposals.
The union workers – who are just a portion of the HVLA staff, with 32 other workers not included in the union – get a raise every year. Spears said the association has had productivity issues with those union staffers.
The union also has made repeated demands for information including the association's confidentiality policy, golf cart maintenance costs and the costs for water for association facilities. Spears said the union was provided with the information multiple times but the union continued to claim it didn't have the information.
She said the association also presented the requested information to the National Labor Relations Board at interviews with the board’s investigator in Sacramento.
Despite the fact that the association is facing the complaint process, Spears said she was hopeful for a good result because the association had a “pretty favorable” outcome after a recent meeting with the National Labor Relations Board investigator.
Email John Lindblom at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.