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 |  Subject: Filthy unionized workers at hot-sheets Bronx motel snap 'Walk of Shame' photos of customers, post pictures online  Fri Mar 28, 2014 11:06 pm | |
| About 20 employees of the Capri Whitestone Motel — where rooms can be rented in four-hour blocks — take turns snapping pictures of customers who cross their picket line in front of the motel. Union officials say the motel owner slashed the salary of room attendants, and eliminated health and retirement benefits.
 Michael Schwartz for New York Daily News Union big George Padilla films guests arriving at Capri Whitestone Motel in the Bronx, where rooms can be rented in four-hour blocks.
A candid-camera style labor protest has put a chill on would-be lovers at a hot-sheets motel in the Bronx.
About 20 employees of the Capri Whitestone Motel, much to the chagrin of its short-stay clientele, are picketing the business to protest a crippling cut in salary and benefits, union leaders said.
The message is delivered in a flash — an amateur paparazzi snaps pictures of customers who cross the picket line on their way to ignoring the lines of decency.
“Say Cheese!” reads a sign near the camera and a towering inflatable rat in the motel parking lot. “Don’t be a dirty rat. Don’t cross our picket line.”
The photos — one potential customer flipped the bird, another covered his head with a leather jacket — are then posted on www.dontcrossthisline.com.
The gotcha shots appear beneath the heading “Walk of Shame.”
“I’ve never seen an employer take as aggressive and heartless an action as this,” said Richard Moroko, attorney for the New York Hotel and Motel Trade Council, which represents thousands of workers across the city.
 Michael Schwartz for New York Daily News George Padilla, vice president of the New York Hotel and Motel Trade Council, mans the camera behind a sign that reads, 'Don't be a dirty rat. Don't cross our picket line.'
The photos — one potential customer flipped the bird, another covered his head with a leather jacket — are then posted on www.dontcrossthisline.com.
The gotcha shots appear beneath the heading “Walk of Shame.”
“I’ve never seen an employer take as aggressive and heartless an action as this,” said Richard Moroko, attorney for the New York Hotel and Motel Trade Council, which represents thousands of workers across the city.
 Protesting workers at Capri Whitestone Motel 'shame' guests on the website dontcrossthisline.com.
“It is really stunning,” he continued Friday. “To have your paycheck slashed by 60% overnight is hard enough. But to put on top of that the loss of your health benefits, that’s heartless.”
On Friday afternoon, three cars left the lot without checking into the hotel after a union rep explained their position and the shaming-photo policy that launched on March 20. Union officials say they have used the aggressive tactic before — but it is rare.
“Most people refuse to cross the line,” said union vice president George Padilla as he manned the camera. “It has been very effective. We’ve been turning away a massive amount of business.”
Union officials charge motel owner Ankoor Naik cut the salary of room attendants from $24.80 an hour to just $10.92 an hour — and eliminated all health and retirement benefits after their contract expired in January. A security guard at the hotel said neither the owner nor the manager were available Friday to respond, and a phone message left for Naik was not returned.
The workers staff the picket line and the camera before and after their shifts or during their breaks.
Rooms at the hotel rent in four-hour blocks for a rate of $55-$65, while overnight stays run from $100-$120.
 Michael Schwartz for New York Daily News Union officials say Capri Whitestone Hotel owner Ankoor Naik slashed the salary of room attendants and eliminated all health and retirement benefits.
The workers say the motel’s high guest turnover and frisky visitors create some challenging cleanups. One employee found a woman bound and naked under a mattress. Another recalled a worker catching heat from the owner over a condom left dangling from a light fixture.
Six-year union veteran Paula Anmparo, 42, said the money crunch caused by the website photos should drive management back to the bargaining table.
“This will force the owner to work with the union,” she said. “Business is way down.”
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/bronx/workers-bx-hot-sheets-motel-snap-walk-shame-photos-protest-article-1.1738554
George Padilla you're a parasitic maggot. When next in town, I'm gonna fuck your bitch and without a condom... that way, you can later lap me up, you worthless, terrorist-looking, piece of sub-human shit.
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Anarcho-Capitalist, AnCaps Forum, Ancapolis, OZschwitz Contraband
“The state calls its own violence law, but that of the individual, crime.”-- Max Stirner
"Remember: Evil exists because good men don't kill the government officials committing it." -- Kurt Hofmann |
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