Hidden Valley Lake >> The golf course at the Hidden Valley Lake Association will once again be cared for by familiar faces. Beginning Monday union employees on strike over recent weeks agreed to return to work.
It took almost two months of picketing without pay by the Laborers’ Local 324 around various HVLA entrance points for the two parties to agree to once again meet and discuss the workers’ contracts, which expired in the fall.
Reopening negotiations is a mandatory condition listed in a settlement agreement filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), a neutral party responsible for dealing with allegations of unfair labor practices.
The NLRB investigated a total of 10 grievances by the union and found there was sufficient evidence supporting the claims against the HVLA. They were consolidated into one complaint and notice of hearing that would have taken place in Santa Rosa earlier this month.
“Two weeks prior to the June 15 complaint hearing, the NLRB offered HVLA a settlement to the Union’s filed grievances,” according to a press statement released Wednesday morning by the HVLA. This settlement includes $1,938 of back pay the association must now make for work lost. “We received the offer as an opportunity for HVLA and the Union to work cooperatively in the best interest of both parties.”
Since last June, representatives met several times to discuss the contract of the 13 union employees, but talks eventually came to a standstill with both sides claiming the other’s refusal to bargain in good faith.
“The union rejected every proposal and made no accommodations,” HVLA General Manager Cindy Spears said. “It’s just a circle that never ends, you never get anywhere with them.”
Laborers’ Local 324 Field Representative and Vice President George Griffin said the changes were too costly for the workers, and eventually, the HVLA stopped responding to the union’s requests for new a meeting, which he estimates were at least 20 different times.
This led the union to file formal complaints before the NLRB Region 20 claiming the association “owed 13 Union employees back wages due to unilateral changes to the now-expired Union collective bargaining agreement and that HVLA committed certain unfair labor practices,” the HVLA press release states.
Claims include threatening an employee for union activities, hiring seasonal workers to do union duties on multiple occasions, changing health care benefits without the union’s consent and failure to provide information necessary for union employees to perform their jobs.
Signing the settlement agreement means that the HVLA admits to the allegations, but Spears said it was more of a fiscal decision than admission of guilt.
“In settling, HVLA has acted responsibly with our limited financial resources and shown our Union employees goodwill,” the release stated.
Paying out less the $2,000 was a better alternative to the $25,000 plus in legal fees the HVLA faced if they would have taken the case to trial — a cost Spears said did not justify the “ridiculous” grievances.
“We are trying to do what’s in the best interest of our association and staff,” Spears said.
But the fight is anything but over.
The union has more than a dozen additional claims pending, and the HVLA has filed five of its own with the NLRB.
In the meantime, the workers will once again perform their jobs with the same benefits as before until a new contract is reached.
“We are relieved that our workforce will return to full strength and our community can celebrate the end of the strike,” the HVLA formally stated.
