Two Groups of Sofitel DC Lafayette Square Hotel Employees Officially Win Efforts to Free Themselves of Unwanted Unions
Despite extended union-instigated delays, around 80 employees have formally removed Unite Here and IUOE union bosses from their workplace
Washington, DC (March 12, 2026) – Two separate groups of employees of Sofitel Washington DC Lafayette Square have prevailed in their battle to free themselves from the “representation” of Unite Here Local 25 and International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 99 union officials. Their victories were cemented after the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) officially certified the results of their votes to remove the unions.
Sofitel Lafayette employee Mwandu Chibwe spearheaded the Unite Here “decertification” effort for the more than 60 food service workers, front of house workers, room attendants, and other hospitality workers. The engineers’ and painters’ decertification of IUOE Local 99 was led by Yuri Lishchenko. Both workers received free legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation.
The NLRB, the federal agency responsible for administering elections to install (or “certify”) and remove (or “decertify”) unions, certified Chibwe’s election on March 11, and Lishchenko’s election on March 10. Both groups are now free from the unwanted presence of union bosses in their workplace, despite Unite Here and IUOE union bosses’ attempts to disenfranchise the workers by filing charges against Sofitel Lafayette management with NLRB Region 5.
Union Bosses Abused NLRB System to Delay Employees’ Decertification Votes
Chibwe and her colleagues were trapped for years by Unite Here Local 25 after successfully voting in June 2024 to remove the union. Rather than respect the outcome of the election, Unite Here officials challenged the election by filing “blocking charges” against the hotel’s management and objections to the election result.
Blocking charges, in which union officials allege employer misbehavior, are a common tactic abused by union officials to delay or prevent workers from removing unwanted unions. Those charges were only withdrawn by Unite Here in January 2026 when it likely became clear its officials lacked the evidence necessary to support the charge.
Despite Unite Here’s charges lacking the evidence needed to overturn the workers’ vote, Chibwe’s election remained in limbo for two months until union officials dropped their objections to the election results this week, allowing the workers’ vote removing Unite Here to finally be certified by the NLRB.
Lishchenko and his coworkers petitioned the NLRB in June of 2025 for their election. However, due to the IUOE filing blocking charges against Sofitel, it took until March 2, 2026, for the workers to vote. The election took place after the NLRB investigated the IUOE’s charges and dismissed them, finding they were without merit.
“We are pleased to have been able to help Ms. Chibwe, Mr. Lishchenko, and their colleagues in freeing themselves from unwanted union bosses,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “It is appalling, though not surprising, that union bosses frequently move to disenfranchise and trap workers in their rank-and-file rather than accept that they are no longer wanted by workers they purport to ‘represent.’
“This situation shows how the NLRB currently allows unproven union legal claims that lack any evidence to keep workers trapped in unions they oppose for months or years at a time,” Mix added. “We hope President Trump’s new appointees to the NLRB promptly take steps to defend workers against the rampant abuse of the current ‘blocking charge’ policy by union bosses seeking to disenfranchise employees opposed to unionization.”
UNITE HERE Local 11 Faces Third Round of Federal Unfair Labor Practice Charges From LAX Flying Foods Employees
Workers have reported union officials using mob-like tactics, physical confrontations, false accusations, and more in retaliation for union dissent
Los Angeles, CA (May 13, 2025) – Esperanza Maciel, an employee of Flying Food Group, has hit the Unite Here Local 11 union with new unfair labor practice charges. This is the third round of federal charges since September 2024 that the union has faced from employees of the LAX foodservice provider. Maciel’s charge details another flash point in a pattern of harassment and intimidation tactics that Flying Foods workers say they are facing at the hands of Unite Here officials. Maciel filed her charges at National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 21 with free legal aid from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys.
“Unite Here union officials do not care about creating a workplace where everyone is treated with respect,” commented Maciel. “They demonize anyone who disagrees with the union and try to cut them off from the rest of the workplace. This makes it even more ridiculous that I am forced to pay them every month.”
The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for enforcing federal labor law, which includes adjudicating disputes between management, union officials, and individual employees. NLRB officials are now reviewing Maciel’s charge. The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), which governs labor relations in the private sector, forbids both union officials and employers from retaliating against employees who speak up for or against union control.
Unite Here Rep Screamed False Accusations at Worker
Maciel’s charges state that she has openly engaged in advocacy against Unite Here union officials, and submitted a petition asking the NLRB to hold a vote among her colleagues to remove the union (“decertification election”). “Because of her dissident activities, [Maciel] has been the target of harassment, bullying, and retaliation or attempted retaliation by the Union and through its representative,” the charges read.
The charges detail a clash union bosses instigated against Maciel on May 3. A Unite Here representative replied to a question Maciel asked about health benefits by saying he would not talk to her because she was not part of the union, and promptly accused her, falsely, of “[going] to San Francisco to participate in an anti-immigrant protest.” He also shouted in front of other employees that the company was paying Maciel to oppose the union.
Maciel responded by asking why the union took money from her wages every month and reiterated her question about healthcare. The Unite Here official ignored the question and instead yelled, “She wants the Union to leave but no one is getting rid of us!” Maciel’s charge argues that the confrontation was a blatant violation of her right to oppose the union, which is activity protected under the NLRA.
Flying Foods Worker Reports Union-Incited Mob Demanded Her Firing
Unite Here Local 11 is already under federal investigation for violating workers’ rights at Flying Foods. Maciel filed charges against Local 11 in September 2024 after a union organizer illegally incited a mob of employees to demand her firing. At the end of April, another Flying Foods employee, Kenia Solano, reported in federal charges that Unite Here shop stewards manipulated other employees into isolating her and even instigated a physical altercation over her opposition to the union.
Solano’s and Maciel’s charges come as Foundation attorneys are aiding foodservice and hospitality workers across the country in challenging illegal tactics from Unite Here union officials, including threatening organizing tactics and refusing to respect workers’ rights to refrain from dues payment. Two such workers, Maria Uriostegui and Erika Chavez, hotel workers in Chicago and San Francisco respectively, were recently featured in a Foundation mini-documentary titled “The Reality of Union Bullying by UNITE HERE,” which recently surpassed 1.6 million views on YouTube:
“Independent-minded workers in the foodservice and hospitality industries are standing up to unmask Unite Here as an aggressive organization that prizes consolidating power in workplaces far above respecting employees’ rights and opinions,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Foodservice and hospitality workers nationwide should know that they have rights to end union membership, speak out against union bosses, and refuse to pay some or potentially all union dues without having to fear retaliation, and that Foundation attorneys stand ready to help them exercise any and all of those rights.”
New Campaign Exposes UNITE HERE’s Anti-Worker Tactics
National Right to Work Foundation offers free legal aid to hotel industry employees nationwide
Washington, DC (May 1, 2025) – The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is launching a nationwide campaign offering free legal aid to hotel workers in the wake of widespread abuse by UNITE HERE officials.
The groundbreaking new campaign, featuring the mini-documentary “The Reality of Union Bullying by UNITE HERE,” shows the reality of deceptive promises and intimidating behavior from one of America’s most powerful unions, as well as the steps workers are taking to safeguard their rights from union bosses. “They’re supposed to protect us, but they just take our money and our voice,” says Erika, a San Francisco hotel worker who has been forced to pay dues for years. “The only time UNITE HERE would talk to us was when we would get paid.”
Erika is not alone. Across the country, Maria, a Chicago Hilton worker, has faced the same intimidating behavior as UNITE HERE officials attempt to muscle into her workplace. The video detailing these heartbreaking experiences has already gone viral, amassing well over a million views.
“I hope this video and my story helps inspire others,” Maria said of the video and campaign. “My message to other hotel employees is: Don’t let UNITE HERE bully you. The National Right to Work Foundation helped me stand up for my rights and they can help you too.”
Foundation staff attorneys have in recent years aided many hospitality workers in fighting coercion from the UNITE HERE union, including at hotels and resorts in Los Angeles, California; Las Vegas, Nevada; Washington, D.C.; Boston, Massachusetts; Seattle, Washington; Orlando, Florida; and elsewhere. Employees helped have included housekeepers, concierges, foodservice staff and providers, casino maintenance workers, Disney crew members, and others.
“UNITE HERE officials have engaged in practices that undermine the very workforce they claim to want to protect,” said Foundation President Mark Mix. “Maria and Erika have bravely stood up for their friends and coworkers in the face of intimidation and coercion. The National Right to Work Foundation is proud to have provided them with free legal aid.”
“We’ve heard from many workers and we know there are many more out there who need help – they should know they have resources,” continued Mix. “Foundation staff attorneys are prepared to assist any hotel employees facing UNITE HERE’s abusive tactics.”
To learn more about free legal aid, visit hotelworkersrights.com.
The full video can be seen here.
T-Mobile Arena Worker Files Federal Charges Against Culinary Union for Stonewalling Requests to Stop Dues Deductions
Arena foodservice employee is latest to charge Culinary Union officials with undermining workers’ rights under federal law
Las Vegas, NV (March 20, 2025) – Renee Guerrero, an employee of Levy Restaurants, a foodservice provider at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena, has hit Culinary Workers Union Local 226 (a Unite Here affiliate) and her employer with federal charges for illegally deducting full union dues from her paycheck despite her objections to both union membership and dues payments.
Guerrero filed her charges at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with free legal aid from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys. The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for enforcing federal labor law, a duty which includes investigating and prosecuting unfair labor practice cases.
Under federal labor law and Supreme Court precedents like NLRB v. General Motors, all private sector workers have the right to refrain from formal union membership, though union officials oftentimes try to coerce union membership. Federal law also requires union officials to obtain written authorization from a worker before deducting union dues payments directly from their paycheck.
Further, because Nevada has Right to Work protections for its workers, Culinary Union officials can’t legally force Guerrero or her coworkers to pay any union dues or fees as a condition of keeping their jobs. In states that lack such protections union officials can require workers to pay at least some union dues just to keep their jobs. In all states, union officials must get the written authorization of workers before directly deducting forced dues and fees from a worker’s paycheck.
“I have a right under Nevada’s Right to Work law to stop all payments to Local 226, and yet rather than respect my rights they’re ignoring my requests and forcing me to pay. I don’t think Culinary Union bosses deserve my support, and their actions since I attempted to exercise my right to stop dues payments only confirms my decision,” stated Guerrero.
Challenge to Illegal Dues Seizures Follows Other Employee Cases Against Culinary Union
According to Guerrero’s charges against the union, she “submitted two written letters to the Union in which she resigned her union membership and revoked any dues check-off authorization she may have signed.” However, the charges state, union officials did not honor her membership resignation (if she had ever become a union member in the first place), and also refused to provide any documentation she may have signed in the past authorizing dues deductions.
In addition to her charge against the union, Guerrero has filed a separate charge against Levy Premium Foodservice Limited Partnership for its role in facilitating the continued deductions.
National Right to Work Foundation attorneys have a long history of helping workers at Las Vegas casinos and other venues oppose coercive Culinary Union legal maneuvers, including earlier this month in a case for Las Vegas Convention Center worker Rebecca Swank. Swank, an employee of Sodexo, filed similar federal charges against the union and her employer on the grounds they illegally seized full union dues from her paycheck despite her explicit resignation from membership and revocation of dues authorization.
“Between federal law, and Nevada’s popular Right to Work law workers like Renee Guerrero have a clear right to opt out of all union financial support and stop any union dues deductions,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Unfortunately, Culinary Union officials have a troubling track record of violating the legal rights of the very workers they claim to represent.
“We are proud to assist Renee in ensuring her legal rights are enforced, and are available to provide free legal assistance to any Nevada workers who want to exercise their right to stop union dues payments,” added Mix.
Las Vegas Convention Center Worker Slams Culinary Union and Sodexo with Federal Charges for Illegally Seizing Dues From Wages
Employee maintains that both union and employer ignored requests to refrain from union membership and dues payments
Las Vegas, NV (March 12, 2025) – Rebecca Swank, an employee of foodservice provider Sodexo who works primarily at the Las Vegas Convention Center, has hit Culinary Workers Union Local 226 (a Unite Here affiliate) and her employer with federal charges for seizing full union dues from her paycheck despite her objections to both union membership and dues payments.
Swank filed her charges at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with free legal aid from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys. Swank’s charges also state that Sodexo officials forced her to get a job referral from the Culinary Union’s hiring hall in person immediately upon being hired.
The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for enforcing federal labor law, a duty which includes investigating and prosecuting unfair labor practice cases. Under federal labor law and Supreme Court precedents like NLRB v. General Motors, all private sector workers have the right to refrain from formal union membership, though union officials sometimes try to coerce union membership anyway, including by subjecting employees to intimidation during hiring hall encounters. Federal law also requires union officials to receive written authorization from a worker before deducting union dues payments directly from their paycheck.
Further, because Nevada has Right to Work protections for its workers, Culinary Union officials can’t legally force Swank or her coworkers to pay any union dues or fees as a condition of keeping their jobs. In states that lack such protections, in contrast, union officials can require workers to pay at least some union dues just to keep their jobs, though must still seek the written authorization of workers before collecting those forced fees by direct deduction.
“Culinary Union officials have been very abrasive in our workplace and have been ineffective in standing up for our interests,” commented Swank. “But now they’re doing something full-on illegal by stopping me from exercising my right under Nevada’s Right to Work law to stop financially supporting them. That’s wrong, and I hope the NLRB gets to the bottom of this.”
Challenge to Illegal Dues Seizures Follows Other Employee Cases Against Culinary Union
According to Swank’s charges against the union, she “submitted two written letters to the Union in which she resigned her union membership and revoked any dues check-off authorization she may have signed.” However, the charges state, union officials did not honor her membership resignation (if she had ever become a union member in the first place), and also refused to provide any documentation she may have signed in the past authorizing dues deductions.
“Finally, the Union has accepted dues deducted from [Swank’s] paycheck without her written authorization and despite her written demand that it cease to do so and to refund her,” Swank’s charges against the union conclude. Swank also filed a charge against Sodexo management for its role in keeping dues flowing from her paycheck to the union.
National Right to Work Foundation attorneys have a long history of helping workers at Las Vegas casinos and other venues oppose coercive Culinary Union legal maneuvers, including in 2021 when Foundation attorneys defended Red Rock Casino workers’ majority vote against Culinary Union control from a district court judge’s order imposing the union on the workers anyway. Foundation attorneys also defended Red Rock Casino slot machine technician Jereme Barrios and his coworkers from a similar situation 2022, when a regional NLRB official blocked him and his fellow technicians from exercising their right to vote themselves out of a Culinary Union work unit. The regional NLRB official cited specious reasons for why the vote couldn’t occur, including allegations of employer malfeasance that didn’t even relate to Barrios and his colleagues.
“Culinary Union bosses have a track record of ignoring and trampling basic employee rights, simply to gain more power over the workers that they claim to ‘represent.’ Unfortunately, it’s unsurprising that independent-minded workers seek to exercise their Right to Work freedom to stop all financial support for this union,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Culinary Union officials’ refusal to respect the exercise of basic rights is clearly at odds with both state and federal law, and our attorneys will defend Ms. Swank’s freedom of choice.”
PHL Guava & Java Employees Overcome ‘Widespread Union Intimidation Campaign,’ Vote Out UNITE HERE Union
Guava & Java workers in the Philadelphia Airport vote overwhelmingly to remove union despite reported intimidation campaign by union agents
Philadelphia, PA (May 22, 2023) – Workers at the Guava & Java store in the Philadelphia Airport have voted to remove the UNITE HERE Local 274 union by an overwhelming majority. The vote follows a petition submitted by Guava & Java employee Shaneisha Brown with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Brown is receiving free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.
Brown filed the petition with the NLRB on March 30, 2023, with a significant number of her coworkers’ support. After the petition was filed and verified, the NLRB scheduled the election to be held on May 11.
With an overwhelming majority of 32-9, the workers at Guava & Java voted to remove UNITE HERE Local 274 from their workplace. In doing so, they overcame a union campaign that, according to employee reports, included electioneering tactics that violated longstanding NLRB rules. The union filed no objections to the result by the May 18 deadline, and the workers are now officially union-free.
The workers at Guava & Java are the latest of many workers to be dissatisfied with union coercion. Currently, the NLRB’s data shows a unionized private sector worker is far more likely to be involved in a decertification effort than their nonunion counterpart is to be involved in a unionization campaign. NLRB statistics also show a 20% increase in decertification petitions last year versus 2021.
“We are extremely pleased to assist the Guava & Java workers in exercising their rights to remove an unwanted union from their workplace,” stated Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. “We are appalled, however, by the reports of heavy-handed union tactics on election day. The Foundation will continue to assist workers who wish to decertify unwanted unions, no matter what prohibited conduct union officials may attempt to engage in while trying to dissuade employees from voting out a union they oppose. We encourage all employees at the Philadelphia International Airport who have questions about decertification elections to contact the Foundation.”
Disney Worker Hits UNITE HERE Union with Federal Charge for Illegal Dues Seizures
The following article is from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation’s bi-monthly Foundation Action Newsletter, May/June 2023 edition. To view other editions of Foundation Action or to sign up for a free subscription, click here.
Union officials ignoring worker’s right under Florida Right to Work law to stop dues payments
Not so magical: Lurking behind Disney World’s cheery exterior are UNITE HERE union officials who apparently don’t respect employees who exercise their right to free themselves from unwanted union membership and dues deductions.
ORLANDO, FL – With free legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation, a Disney Parks and Resorts employee in Orlando, Florida, has filed federal charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against the UNITE HERE Local 362 union, stating that union officials ignored his resignation and dues checkoff revocation letter.
Since 1943, Florida’s Right to Work protections have made union membership and financial support strictly voluntary. However, when Jose Class filed his unfair labor practice charge, UNITE HERE union officials had not acknowledged his unequivocal exercise of his rights to abstain from both.
According to the charge filed in December 2022, Class resigned his union membership and revoked the union’s authorization to deduct dues from his paycheck. That December letter also requested, if union officials did not immediately accept his dues checkoff revocation, that the union, within 14 days of receipt, provide him with a copy of any checkoff he may have signed.
As of the filing of the charge, union officials had not stopped collecting dues from his wages, nor had they provided him with the requested copy of a signed checkoff authorization, which might specify when revocation is allowed.
Long History of Union Bosses Violating Disney World Workers’ Rights
UNITE HERE is not the only union that has violated Disney World workers’ right to stop all dues payments as guaranteed by Florida’s longstanding Right to Work law. In a series of cases brought against Florida-based Teamsters Local 385, Foundation attorneys ultimately won an NLRB decision that Teamsters officials violated workers’ rights by “repeatedly and deliberately” failing to honor the workers’ requests that deduction of union dues from their wages stop.
“In what is an unfortunately familiar story, union officials ignored Mr. Class’ resignation letter and his dues deduction revocation,” commented National Right to Work Foundation Vice President and Legal Director Raymond LaJeunesse.
“No American worker should ever be forced to subsidize union activities, which is why a longstanding priority of the National Right to Work Foundation is assisting workers in exercising their right to cut off financial support for union officials they oppose.
NLRB Cases Challenge Coercive ‘Neutrality Agreements’ Used to Impose Forced Unionism
The following article is from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation’s bi-monthly Foundation Action Newsletter, March/April 2020 edition. To view other editions or to sign up for a free subscription, click here.
Housekeepers demand NLRB block unionization resulting from back-room “Card Check” deals
From left, housekeepers Lady Laura Javier, Cindy J. Alarcon Vasquez, and Yesica Perez Barrios are charging hotel officials and union bosses with illegally corralling workers into union ranks with a corrupted “Card Check” recognition.
SEATTLE, WA – Housekeeper Gladys Bryant was granted an appeal by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel in her case challenging the use of a so-called “neutrality agreement” between UNITE HERE union officials and her employer to impose a union on the hotel’s workers.
Meanwhile, four Boston housekeepers have filed similar NLRB charges against their employer Yotel Boston and UNITE HERE Local 26, alleging that union officials violated federal law by imposing union representation on workers through a coercive “Card Check” drive with their employer’s assistance.
General Counsel Finds That UNITE HERE “Card Check” Unionization Was Tainted
Bryant filed the unfair labor practice charges after the UNITE HERE Local 8 union was installed at the Embassy Suites hotel in May 2018 through an oft-abused “Card Check” drive which bypassed the NLRB’s secret ballot election process.
As part of its so-called “neutrality agreement,” Embassy Suites agreed to give union organizers access to the hotel to meet and solicit employees. The agreement also provided union officials with a list of all employees’ names, jobs, and contact information to assist the union in collecting authorization cards from employees.
After NLRB Region 19 officials declined to prosecute the union or employer for violations of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), Bryant appealed the case to the NLRB General Counsel in January 2019. The NLRB General Counsel agreed with Bryant’s Foundation attorneys that Embassy Suites provided UNITE HERE’s organizing campaign with more than “ministerial aid” and thus violated the NLRA.
The NLRB has long held that an employer taints employees’ efforts to remove a union if it gives the employees support such as providing a list of bargaining unit employees or use of company resources. Bryant’s appeal successfully argued that the “ministerial aid” standard must also apply when an employer aids union officials’ efforts to gain monopoly bargaining power over workers.
Boston Housekeepers Argue Union “Card Check” Must Be Overturned
Faced with a similar situation, Boston-area housekeepers Cindy J. Alarcon Vasquez, Lady Laura Javier, Yesica Perez Barrios, and Danela Guzman filed unfair labor practice charges with the NLRB. With free legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation, the housekeepers argue that UNITE HERE union officials violated federal law by imposing union representation on workers through a coercive “Card Check” drive with the assistance of their employer, Yotel Boston.
As in the Seattle case, they charge that Yotel Boston company officials provided UNITE HERE’s organizing campaign with more than “ministerial aid” and therefore illegally tainted the union’s installation as the employees’ exclusive representative in the workplace. The housekeepers charge union officials with violating the NLRA by requesting and accepting the illegal assistance, and the hotel for providing it.
“It is long past time that the NLRB put an end to this biased double standard that allows union bosses to abuse workers’ rights,” said National Right to Work Foundation Vice President and Legal Director Ray LaJeunesse. “The General Counsel is correct to finally recognize that what qualifies as more than ‘ministerial assistance and support,’ and thus violates the National Labor Relations Act, cannot depend on whether the employer is helping outside union organizers impose unionization on workers or assisting workers in exercising their right to remove an unwanted union.”
“These cases represent another breakthrough in the Foundation’s challenges to the pro-forced unionism skew at the NLRB,” added LaJeunesse.
