Kate Nash | The New Mexican
5/1/2008 - 5/2/08
Fourteen housekeepers who worked for years at the Hilton Santa Fe Historic Plaza say they were fired in March after complaining about unsafe and unreasonable working conditions.
During a press conference Thursday outside the hotel on Sandoval Street, the women said they have filed complaints with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the National Labor Relations Board and the Employment Equal Opportunity Commission.
The fired employees, all female Hispanics, said they felt discriminated against, humiliated and frustrated when they were all fired at the same time, on the day they tried to explain their concerns to hotel management.
"We were fired by the Hilton because we spoke up and complained about our working conditions," 40-year old Amelia Solis said.
Hotel officials issued a statement in reaction to the workers' allegations. "We at the Hilton Santa Fe Historic Plaza hold our employees' safety and satisfaction in the highest regard and encourage workers to effectively alert management of issues that may affect or have affected their work environment," Michael Newbrand, the general manager, said in the statement.
"We value the well being of our hotel guests and staff. If there are issues that need to be discussed, we will do so consistent with this philosophy and applicable regulations."
Officials from the hotel, owned by Ashford Hospitality Trust, declined to take questions.
The women say they were forced to clean 23 rooms in seven hours, giving them about 16 minutes a room.
"That was impossible," Solis said, "and we felt very pressured."
The women often skipped bathroom and water breaks so they didn't fall behind, she said.
The housekeepers said they asked repeatedly for gloves to handle laundry and room-cleaning chemicals. After being exposed to harsh cleaners, they said, some women brought their own gloves to work. One woman asked for thick gloves to deal with tablecloths used for banquets, which they said sometimes contained broken glass.
One of the employees fell in a bathroom when cleaning in a rush, Solis said. She also said one woman complained to an OSHA representative about the conditions, and a manager told her she would be fired if she complained again.
The conditions were not always that bad, said the women, who wore T-shirts that said "Hilton fired me for speaking out" and stickers over their mouths with sayings including "No Rights" and "Shut up."
Things changed when Newbrand became manager about a year ago, the women allege. Previously, they said, the women were given 30 minutes to clean each room.
Most of the fired women haven't been able to find new jobs, said Mireya Leon, a single mother of three. She has tried getting work at other Santa Fe hotels, but said a Hilton human resources manager is giving her bad references, saying the employees quit their jobs. "She told us it was going to be hard for us to get new jobs because she was going to tell the other hotels not to hire us," Leon said.
The women were joined by members of the immigrant-rights group Somos Un Pueblo Unido, which organized the event, as well as members of the Service Employees International Union. The event was held on International Worker's Day.
"We decided to speak out so that the new workers don't have to work under the same conditions we had to endure," Solis said. "Also we want other workers in Santa Fe to know that we have rights and that we should speak out to improve our working conditions."
Contact Kate Nash at 986-3036 or knash@sfnewmexican.com. Read her blog, Green Chile Chatter, at www.santafenewmexican.com.
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