Aston Hotels & Resorts responds to Local 5 claims

A week after the local labor union filed unfair labor practice charges against Aston, the hotel company responded with the following statement.

Press Release
Hawaii Independent Staff

Statement from Aston Hotels & Resorts

Local 5 has filed several unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) related to the Aston Waikiki Beach Hotel and Hotel Renew. We are currently working with the NLRB on resolving those charges. As this is a pending matter, we cannot discuss the matter further other than to say that most of the charges relate to our former employee handbook policies and some miscommunications between employees that have since been corrected.

Like most employers, we are adjusting older employee handbook policies to reflect very recent changes required by new NLRB decisions in mainland cases, and the recent NLRB General Counsel memorandum on employee handbooks which was released just last month.

The current dispute between Local 5 and Aston is the result of Aston’s refusal to agree to Local 5’s demand that Aston waive its team members’ right to decide for themselves in a secret ballot election conducted by the NLRB and whether they need to pay a significant part of their paycheck in union dues.

Aston has a unique business model based on its non-union status that has provided consistent work opportunity and benefits to its many employees through good times and difficult times without any involvement by Local 5. We look forward to continuing our excellent relationship with our team members that recognizes and responds to the legitimate needs of our team members and guests.