A hospitality workers union has been charged with unfair labor practices against the Sheraton Four Points LAX The hotel alleged that its owners did not provide the information requested by the union regarding the decision to lay off employees and possibly close the hotel.

The workers, represented by Local 11, were fired en masse last year.

In December 2020 and January 2021, the union requested a range of information from hotel owners, including their plans and economic situation. To ensure that laid-off workers are treated fairly, Unite Here wants to know how the funds the hotel received through the federal paycheck protection program have been used.

The Unfair Labor Practices Charge alleges the owners never provided the information requested. Under the covenant National Labor Relations Act, Employers have an obligation to provide such information to trade unions in order to facilitate collective bargaining.

Kenneth Ballard, attorney representing the owners, based in San Marino Rui Gao Inc.. and New Wynn Li LPThe information the union is looking for was made available earlier this year.

Unite’s filing with the National Labor Relations Board stems from a similar complaint the union filed with the US Small Business Administration earlier this month. That action claimed the owners may have misused federal funds to keep the staff busy.

Unite here Kurt Petersen, Co-President of Local 11, said there were still questions to be answered.

“These workers have dedicated much of their lives to this hotel and greatly enriched its owners,” Petersen said in a statement. “You deserve to be treated with a basic level of respect. What is the company trying to hide? “

Staff recently protested outside the Sheraton, calling on the SBA to conduct an investigation into the hotel’s approved Federal Paycheck Protection Program loans of nearly $ 4.4 million.

The owners closed the doors of the Sheraton a week after receiving approval for a second round of cash.

The hotel was first approved for $ 2.4 million in PPP funding on April 10, 2020. However, according to Petersen, this had little effect on keeping workers on board.

“They said they would save 234 jobs with that money, but they didn’t because there were only about 30 people working at the hotel from April last year to February this year,” he said.

The hotel filed a notice of adjustment and retraining of workers with the state on July 24, 2020, which went into effect on September 24, according to the complaint filed with the SBA. That affected 28 jobs.

On January 29, 2021, the hotel received approval for a second $ 2 million PPP loan tied to maintaining 220 jobs. However, a second WARN notice was filed on November 30, 2020, which went into effect on February 5 and affected an additional 214 jobs.