Skip to main content

Play Ball? Los Angeles Dodgers Criticized For Crossing Picket Line in Boston


Readers that are avid baseball fans have probably watched the first two games of the World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox.  As much as I would like to talk about the games themselves, this is not necessarily the right blog for that discussion.  With that being said, there has been quite a bit of rancor this week in regard to some off the field events involving the Dodgers.  In particular, I am talking about tension that has arisen in regard to where the Dodgers are staying while in Boston for the start of the World Series.  (Yes, that has become a major issue).  

For those unaware, many hotel workers at Marriott have gone on strike recently and set up picket lines at Marriott properties across the country to advocate for better wages and better working conditions.  It turns out that the Dodgers are staying at a Ritz-Carlton (a Marriott property) while in Boston that just so happens to have a picket line in front of the hotel.  Hoping to avoid a public spectacle, when the players arrived at the hotel earlier this week, they entered through a back door rather than the front door of the hotel.  (All Major League players are eligible for membership in the Major League Baseball Players Association.  As a result, the assumption held by many was that the players would not dare cross a picket line set up by ‘fellow’ union members, albeit both the hotel workers and Major Leagueurs belong to different unions).  Labor leaders immediately siezed upon this news as an opportunity to criticize the Dodgers organization and its players for ‘abandoning’ the fight of the hotel chain’s workers (rather than showing solidarity and refusing to cross the picket line).

Whether this story will gain much traction remains to be seen.  It is worth noting that the New York Yankees previously crossed a picket line earlier this season.  Although that act was similarly not well received by organized labor, it does not appear to have tarnished the Yankees, the organization, or its players, to a significant degree.  For the sake of the Dodgers, given how the last two games have gone, they could use a bit of good news heading into game three back in Los Angeles.


For additional information:  http://www.bostonherald.com/news/local_coverage/2018/10/hotel_workers_blast_dodgers_for_crossing_picket_line

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

NLRB: Discussion Among Employees About Tip Pooling is Protected Concerted Activity

  This Advice Memorandum from the National Labor Relations Board’s Associate General Counsel, Jayme Sophir, addressed whether employees which discussed and complained about tip pooling at work constituted protected concerted activity. In relevant part, an employer in New York operated a chain of steakhouses.  While tip pooling was in place at these steakhouses, some of the employees objected to it on the grounds that it was not transparent and improperly divided tips among the workers.  Employees were told not to complain or talk to each other about the tip pool and were told that doing so would endanger their jobs.  Despite the employer later attempting to provide some clarity as to how the tips were being divided, rancor still existed among some employees.  At one point, the employees were told by a general manager that some employees that had been talking about the tip pool were “cleared out” and the employer would continue to do so. In the Advice Memorandum,...

San Diego Rolls Back Vaccine Mandate For City Workers

Last Tuesday, the San Diego City Council voted to do away with the vaccine mandate for city employees. The city’s vaccine mandate that was in place required city workers to get the coronavirus vaccine or risk termination.  Perhaps to this surprise of no one, the city’s policy came under fire with 14 employees being terminated and over 100 other employees resigning.  With the coronavirus subsiding, including in Southern California, the San Diego City Council took action. Now, bear in mind, the repeal of the vaccine mandate does not take place immediately. With that being said, the mandate will be repealed March 8th.  I suppose the question now is, what other cities or regions follow San Diego’s lead? For additional information:   https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/politics/story/2023-01-24/san-diego-repeals-controversial-covid-19-vaccine-mandate-citing-drop-in-cases-hospitalizations

NLRB: Former Employee Cannot Be Barred From Work Premises After Filing Wage Suit

MEI-GSR Holdings, LLC - NLRB Facts :  MEI-GSR Holdings, LLC d/b/a Grand Sierra Resort & Casino ("GSR") operated a facility that included a hotel, casino, restaurant, clubs, bars, and a pool which were all open to the general public.  Tiffany Sargent ("Sargent") was briefly employed by GSR as a "beverage supervisor" in December of 2012.  After her employment ended, Sargent continued to socialize at one of the clubs.  GSR had a long standing practice of allowing former employees to patronize its facility and did not prohibit Sargent from doing so.  In June of 2013, Sargent and another employee filed a class and collective action against GSR for alleged unpaid wages, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act and Nevada law.  In July of 2014, GSR denied Sargent access to an event at one of the clubs.  GSR followed up with a letter and stated that with the on-going litigation (from the wage suit), it decided to bar Sargent from the premises. ...