Labor dispute follows Ridpath sale

A labor dispute has arisen over the rights of Ridpath Hotel employees following the sale of the historic downtown Spokane hotel last week.

The new owner, Douglas Da Silva, of Las Vegas, says he bought the property, furniture and fixtures, but not the business, and therefore is not responsible for assuming the union labor contract. He said he could have turned the property into condominiums and not retained any employees at all.

As it is, he said he rehired 16 of the 56 remaining Ridpath employees and outsourced other functions, such as housekeeping and food and beverage service, to Spokane companies. Although he interviewed former Ridpath employees, he said he had no responsibility to hire any of them.

“We didn’t fire anyone, we just didn’t hire them,” Da Silva said. “They were terminated by Red Lion. We have no relationship with the union. The union contract was terminated by Red Lion.”

In a sale that closed Friday, Red Lion Hotels sold the Ridpath to Da Silva, who said he paid $6.75 million for it.However, a representative of the labor union that represents hotel and restaurant employees sees it differently. Erik Van Rossum, vice president of negotiation and arbitration for Unite Here! Local 8, said when Da Silva took over, he assumed the terms and conditions of the contract. Van Rossum said the union is researching whether federal labor laws were broken and will pursue any remedies available under law for its members.

“According to federal law, he needs to bargain if he’s going to make any changes, such as his unilateral layoff,” Van Rossum said. “Clearly we are consulting with our legal counsel regarding charges with the National Labor Relations Board and any other venue we can find to bring justice to the workers.”

Krisann Hatch, Red Lion Hotels’ vice president of human resources, said Red Lion notified its employees last week that their positions would be terminated. She said company officials explained the severance packages the employees would be offered and told them they had an opportunity to apply for work at other Red Lion hotels.

“The hotel has been for sale for more than a year,” Hatch said. “I would not see any reason why they would be surprised.”

Some Ridpath employees, however, said they were surprised when they arrived at work Tuesday morning. One housekeeper who has worked at the Ridpath for 24 years said she had an interview with Da Silva and thought she’d been rehired. She arrived at work to discover she was out of a job.

“I would always say they’ll have to pry me out of that place,” said the woman, who requested anonymity out of fear that speaking publicly would ruin her chances of finding another job in Spokane. “I just can’t understand a person that gave so much loyalty to be let go like this. I just can’t see it. I’m devastated.”

Da Silva said he did conduct interviews, but ended up deciding to outsource most hotel functions. He said he made no promises to employees, telling them instead that names of people who had been hired would be posted on notices at the hotel.

“If they misunderstood, I don’t know what to say,” Da Silva said.