National Labor Relations Board files complaint alleging lockout is unlawful.
The locked out workers at Castlewood Country Club, Pleasanton, Calif., have a new ally in their labor dispute—the federal government, reports the Livermore Patch.
The National Labor Relations Board has filed a complaint alleging that the lockout of 61 union employees has been unlawful since August 10, 2010. That complaint is scheduled to be heard by an administrative law judge in early November.
The complaint alleges that the club took action during the negotiations with the union after the lockout started which prevented the two sides from reaching a new collective bargaining agreement, said George Velastegui, an attorney for the NLRB’s Region 32.
If the judge rules in the union’s favor, the workers would be eligible for back pay and benefits as well as out-of-pocket costs, Velastegui added. But either side can appeal the ruling through the courts.
According to the Unite Here Local 2850 union, the seniority proposal would allow the club to lay workers off or assign them work hours out of the order of seniority.
Castlewood General Manager Jerry Olson called the NLRB and union’s charges “blatantly false.”
The union made the same allegations more than a year ago and the NLRB dismissed their claims, Olson told the Patch. The NLRB took a second look at the matter after the union appealed, he added.
“We are confident we will be exonerated,” Olson said.
The labor dispute was sparked by the club insisting that workers put 50 percent of their wages towards health care insurance, and the workers contend that they can afford to pay up to 40 percent. Those workers have been locked out since late February 2010.
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