At the beginning of May, the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation (NRTWF) launched a nationwide campaign to provide free legal services to hotel workers and other service providers who have suffered widespread abuse by labor union UNITE HERE and its officials.

Our groundbreaking new campaign features the mini-documentary "The Reality of Union Bullying by UNITE HERE" exposing deceptive tactics by one of America's most powerful unions — plus steps workers are taking to safeguard their rights from union bosses.pic.twitter.com/4hXrglcpbY

— National Right To Work Foundation (@RightToWork) May 7, 2025

As the cornerstone of the campaign, NRTWF released a YouTube mini-documentary: “The Reality of Union Bullying by UNITE HERE,” where hospitality workers in Chicago and San Francisco share their stories of struggle against UNITE HERE. The women give information on how local union officials have used coercion tactics to control, manipulate, and disenfranchise the very workers they are supposed to be protecting. Both women give a stark contrast on how the union operates to bully workers into compliance, and how difficult it is to remove the union oversight once it is entrenched.

NRTWF is offering legal aid in a number of cases involving UNITE HERE. In Los Angeles, the Flying Food Group, which UNITE HERE claims is fielding sexual harassment charges -- has other employees fighting against UNITE HERE, accusing them of harassment and intimidation tactics.

HAPPENING NOW! Seven women at Flying Food Group allege sexual harassment, they are now breaking the silence at LAWA.

One worker alleged management was trying to hug her and touch her inappropriately. She wouldn’t wish what happened on anyone. pic.twitter.com/JxkYE9H62p

— UNITE HERE Local 11 (@unitehere11) March 13, 2025

The employee, Kenia Solano, maintains that union officials and agents have targeted her with harassment, intimidation, and even physical confrontation over her opposition to the union’s control. Solano 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 has been a terrible presence in our workplace. Our contracts are bad and union representatives treat me and anyone who disagrees even a little bit with the union like we are evil,” commented Solano. “The law is supposed to protect my right to disagree with the union and tell my coworkers that we are better off without it, but union bosses have not respected those rights at all and just keep harassing me.”

Slot technicians in Las Vegas feel the same. They are asking the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Washington, D.C. to reverse a decision made by the NLRB regional office that prevents them from voting out the union. The NRLB is supposed to enforce federal labor law, including adjudicating disputes between management, union officials, and individual employees. Similar cases of UNITE HERE's malfeasance are being litigated in Washington, D.C., Boston, Seattle, and Orlando.

As RedState reported, UNITE HERE Local 11 in Los Angeles struck the death knell to the 100-year-old iconic restaurant The Original Pantry Cafe, which was owned by former L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan. After Riordan's passing, his trust attempted to sell the restaurant. UNITE HERE swooped in, supposedly on behalf of the workers, and instead of protecting the employees, managed to wreak havoc.  

When Riordan passed away in 2023, his family’s trust assumed ownership and planned to sell the restaurant to fund its philanthropic operations. Even after its closure yesterday, union workers protested in front of the restaurant past 6 p.m. Unite Here, which represents the workers, filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board on February 7 with allegations that the closure violates federal labor law. On February 25, the NLRB dismissed the charge due to “lack of cooperation from the Charging Party.” The union can still appeal the decision. Back in April 2023, a few weeks before Riordan died, a class-action lawsuit alleging unpaid overtime, rest, and meal breaks was filed on behalf of workers; the case remained in settlement talks as of February 2025.

Though the Richard J. Riordan trust is attempting to sell the business, the union still wants to ensure that new owners will honor the existing labor contract. “It’s still open from their perspective,” union spokesperson Kurt Peterson told the Times.

The Original Pantry was closed, and those workers lost their jobs. But like the vultures they have been, UNITE HERE simply moved on to ravage the next set of victims. As my colleague Brad Slager reported, UNITE HERE used the same tactics in Minnesota in the Fall of 2024. Within a year of the workers at local coffee chain Café Cerés unionizing, the business shuttered its doors at all locations. 

Pancakes & solidarity w/ fired workers of The Original Pantry Cafe #DTLA. The nonprofit trust that owns the restaurant directed the iconic eatery to close after 100+ years serving Angelinos 24/7. Workers are fighting to reclaim their jobs #MayDay https://t.co/k0oYSjMlLM pic.twitter.com/SksR0O0JfV

— UNITE HERE Local 11 (@unitehere11) May 1, 2025

Foundation President Mark Mix discussed the poisonous influence of UNITE HERE and how the NRTWF campaign is helping workers extricate themselves from its leviathan grip. 

UNITE HERE officials have engaged in practices that undermine the very workforce they claim to want to protect. 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.

Along with Maria and Erika, NRTWF has given legal aid and advocacy to other housekeepers, concierges, foodservice staff and providers, casino maintenance workers, Disney crew members, and many other service industry workers.

We’ve heard from many workers and we know there are many more out there who need help – they should know they have resources. Foundation staff attorneys are prepared to assist any hotel employees facing UNITE HERE’s abusive tactics.

UNITE HERE claims to champion worker protections, but instead threatens worker freedoms. The NRTWF campaign is not only exposing this, but is also giving workers the resources to protect their dignity as well as their livelihood. 

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