Trouble in Paradise
Workers demand decent pay on Hilton Head.
COMPILED FROM STAFF REPORTS
Every April, thousands of golfers and vacationers flock to Hilton
Head Island to enjoy an early summer and the MCI Heritage Golf classic.
They roam the manicured greens, sail yachts, eat, drink and spend some
serious money. A local paper boasted that during last year's Heritage
weekend, visitors spent $22 million.
This year, while the business community prayed for sunny weather and
planned eagerly for a bigger payout than last year, another sentiment was
also gaining momentum. Island workers
the folks who
clean the toilets, wash the dishes, make the beds, and tend the greens at
the island's resort "plantations"
have grown
sick and tired of plantation life. This April they made thousands of
wealthy white tourists a little uncomfortable.
The antebellum theme of Hilton Head's beach resorts and the tightly
controlled labor force that maintains them make unlikely ingredients for
a workers' rights movement. But out of racial and economic division and a
long list of daily oppressions, the island's workers are telling a success
story. To understand, we have to take a step back in time.
In 1865, Gen. William T. Sherman issued an order setting aside 400,000
acres of the sea islands south of Charleston to rent and later sell to
black families and loyal refugees. By that June, 40,000 black families had
settled on South Carolina's and Georgia's coastal regions.
Over the last few decades, wealthy white entrepreneurs have taken
these lands back.
"Thirty years ago when they came in with the Hilton Head Inn, we built
it with our hands
the golf
courses and the rooms, we did it all," said Bill Feruguson, the lone
native islander represented on Hilton Head's Town Council. "And we
expected that we would move into positions of management and we would own
the next resorts built on our lands. But after we did the work, they
brought in foreign management teams and kept us in the lowest jobs. Then
resort after resort was built and there was no opportunity for native
Islanders to advance."
Wealthy retirees and vacationers have brought a higher cost of living,
higher land prices and higher property taxes to Hilton Head. Where hope
for a piece of the pie did not compel black families to sell their land,
taxes did. Today, most of the island's majority African-American work
force is bussed in from the rural counties surrounding Hilton Head, paying
at least an hour's wages and spending up to five hours a day on getting to
and from their jobs.
"You have to understand that for kids in high school in the outlying
counties their dream in life is to come work at one of the resorts, wear
a fancy uniform and earn $6 an hour," said one native islander. But the
plantation metaphor used by many of the island's resorts is not lost on
these workers. The bus drivers who bring 600 workers to the island daily
recently characterized the Lowcountry Regional Transit Authority for whom
they work a "slave farm."
Opposition to these circumstances also has roots that go back many
years. In the late 1980s, Doris Grant, a fifth-generation resident of
Hilton Head, led a group called the Underground Railroad, which used
grassroots tactics to publicize the quasi-slave conditions in which blacks
on Hilton Head were still living.
"My fight will never be over until we get a fair share," Grant said.
"Please remember Hilton Head Island is a resort island where we should be
making resort money, not slave wages. My grandmother always said, If they
ain't tired, I'm tired for them.'"
A core group of leaders grew up around Grant's Underground Railroad,
but found it hard to challenge the large hotels on the island. They got
some publicity in 1990 when "60 Minutes" did a story about the conditions
faced by island workers, including those on neighboring Daufuskie Island
where resort plantations threatened to destroy cemeteries where black
families had been buried for generations.
That same year, the Carolina Alliance for Fair Employment (CAFE), a
Greenville-based workers rights group, was expanding statewide. Arthur
Pinckney, a former shipyard worker at the Charleston Naval Yard and a
native islander from Mt. Pleasant, was hired to work part-time for CAFE.
Pinckney heard about the stirrings on Hilton Head and went down to
investigate. As he recalls, there was immediate excitement about CAFE.
"There were overwhelming problems," he said, "and we were one of the first
groups that seemed truly willing to listen to people's job problems and
fight to improve their situation."
Grant liked the sound of CAFE, and thought it wouldn't be hard to get
a chapter going. And by March of 1991, a new chapter of CAFE, centered on
Hilton Head, was recognized and 25 members, led by Grant, began to meet.
The issues they faced were numerous. The resorts were called
"plantations," which was offensive to many; there was no affordable
housing; many roads weren't paved in black neighborhoods; and workers
faced a range of illegal and abusive practices at the hands of employers.
Three years of meetings and public job rights workshops brought CAFE
new members, a higher profile in the community, and even a meeting with
President-elect Clinton's transition team. Despite these efforts, problems
continued.
In 1994, an employee from the Melrose Resort on Daufuskie Island
contacted CAFE because of job problems he and others were having. He
became a CAFE member and expressed interest in unionizing. CAFE put the
employee in touch with the International Union of Operating Engineers
(IUOE).
IUOE organizers from Charlotte, N.C., held a series of meetings with
Melrose employees, and a biracial group of over 30 employees formed an
organizing committee.
Over the course of the three-month campaign, CAFE and the IUOE
dev-eloped an innovative labor community alliance. Public interest and
support were rallied through community events. CAFE members began printing
a one-page newsletter written by local workers and highlighting the
problems at the Melrose Resort and at other hotels on the island.
In the last days of the union drive, CAFE and IUOE brought national
attention to the campaign by distributing a letter to Melrose employees
from the Rev. Jesse Jackson. He wrote, "You are part of an important and
historic struggle for justice and respect at Melrose Resort. You have an
opportunity to build a strong union and to create a better life for
yourself, your family and your community."
Many observers, including the law firm employed by the Melrose Resort
to steer the employees away from unionization, believe this letter was
crucial in solidifying the pro-union majority.
On Oct. 27, 1994, employees of the Melrose Resort made history, voting
98 to 45 to be represented by IUOE. Those workers became the first in the
Hilton Head area to successfully organize for union representation.
A year and a half later, monthly contract negotiations still have not
resulted in a contract agreement. But as the negotiations drag on, the
community-labor alliance grows stronger.
Last spring, dozens of organizers from across the South came to Hilton
Head to protest the contract delays at Melrose. They joined the
Ministerial Alliance, the NAACP, and the local Democratic club, who had
formed an unprecedented local coalition to support Melrose workers.
In February, CAFE members distributed 600 "wanted" fliers featuring
Melrose's General Manager Pierre Renault, and set up a 12-foot inflatable
rat named Mickey Melrose near the entrance to the plantation where Renault
lives.
Meanwhile, the union filed dozens of unfair labor practice charges
with the National Labor Relations Board. Most of the charges
firing union
supporters, using illegal union-busting tactics and unfair bargaining
were
confirmed by the board, which recently issued a bad-faith bargaining
ruling against the Melrose Club.
The community-labor alliance that arose to support Melrose workers
moved on to support other island workers:
Within weeks of the Melrose election, waste haulers at ECO Services
in Beaufort asked for help in unionizing. The IUOE, with CAFE's support,
began another organizing drive. Although the union fell a few votes short
in the election, the National Labor Relations Board issued a rare
bargaining order because of the numerous legal violations committed by Eco
Services' management during the campaign. The bargaining order, once
settled in court, would require ECO Services to negotiate a contract as if
the union had won the election.
CAFE helped workers at Walmart on Hilton Head do a "concerted
action"
a group
complaint that is protected by federal law. Workers complained about
discriminatory hiring practices and won their demands to have job openings
posted in advance and have four African-Americans promoted into
supervisory positions.
Employees at Ellen Ashley (a small clothes retailer on the Island)
also did a concerted action that yielded the desired result
their manager
resigned and the managerial position was offered to the leader of the
concerted action.
Bus drivers for the Lowcountry Regional Transit Authority (LRTA)
enlisted CAFE's help after organizing an impromptu "sick-out" last spring
to protest stagnant wages, problems with their manager and safety
violations.
LRTA bus drivers have been denied wage increases for more than three
years, and remain at the bottom of the pay scale for transit drivers in
South Carolina. Their fight for better working conditions became a focus
of last month's week of actions.
Years of anger and organizing generated the steam to propel the week
of actions during this year's MCI Heritage Golf Classic. Workers on Hilton
Head were joined by members from the Food and Allied Service Trade of the
AFL-CIO, the IUOE, CAFE, South Carolina United Action and from grassroots
groups in several states.
"We wanted to push forward negotiations at Melrose, win a concrete
victory for LRTA bus drivers, educate more workers about what their rights
are, and let the tourists know that their plantation vacation comes at
somebody else's expense," said Simon Greer of CAFE.
Protesters kicked off the week on April 16, passing out thousands of
flyers in hotels, restaurants, shopping malls and at traffic intersections
across Hilton Head. Some received the flyers with puzzled politeness while
others snarled and said things like, 'Get a real job." Or, "If the
workers don't like it, they can go get higher-paying jobs somewhere else."
On Wednesday before dawn, LRTA bus drivers and Melrose employees were
greeted by supporters with donuts and flyers poking fun at the workers'
bosses.
On Thursday morning, traffic coming onto the island was brought to a
crawl by a motorcade of vehicles traveling at low speed. When the traffic
did make it over the bridge, they were met by 15 protesters waving
American flags standing next to the now-famous giant inflatable rat
Mickey
Melrose.
On Thursday evening, members of AFL-CIO and IUOE rode on workers'
buses to educate them about their job rights. These "union schools"
brought new requests from island workers for help with organizers'
efforts.
"Two years ago you couldn't find a union organizer down here, and this
week we had six of them riding on the buses talking with people," said
CAFE member Mary Heyward.
On Friday, LRTA bus drivers announced a major victory. Ten days
before, the drivers and CAFE held a press conference to announce five
demands, including a wage increase and the termination or resignation of
Sam Smith, their manager. On the 10th day, after a flyer displaying an
unflattering cartoon of Smith appeared on his desk, he took a permanent
leave from his job, following on the heels of LRTA board chairperson Ron
Voegeli, who resigned under pressure the day before.
"This is a historic day for the bus drivers," Greer said. "The drivers
are heroes for all island workers. They have had the courage to stand up
and they've proven that together we can win."
Attention was turned for the rest of the week on the contract fight
at the Melrose Resort. As Eric Coney, an employee of the resort and a
negotiating team member for the union, explained, "Management changed at
Melrose once a year. We lost our sense of family at Melrose along with
trust, benefits and wages. That's why we're fighting for this contract."
While past protests against Melrose took place on Hilton Head, on
Friday during the largest check-in day of the week, boats of protesters
went over to the resort itself. A protester from the Student Environmental
Action Coalition in Chapel Hill, N.C., said, "We caught them completely
off guard. We drove around the island in golf carts and slowed their
shuttle buses down. We leafleted them as they came off the boat and
chanted, Hey, hey, hey, how many slaves did you buy today?'"
On Saturday, at the main traffic circle on Hilton Head, 30 protesters
carried signs saying "Take Your Plantation and Shove It," "Decent Pay for
Decent Work" and "Honk If You're Greedy."
Meanwhile, at the Heritage golf tournament, a boat pulled in just off
shore from the 18th hole, where thousands were gathered in respectful
silence of the golfers. With a rented PA system, protesters blared social
justice songs and recorded testimony from Melrose workers.
While the Coast Guard drove the boat away, protesters with passes
inside the golf tournament distributed thousands of cards asking visitors
to remember that after serving their food, cleaning their rooms, and
hauling their bags, that the workers too had families to go home and take
care of.
On the final day of actions, the wired-for-sound boat used the
previous day went to Daufuskie Island and serenaded Melrose Resort members
as they boarded a shuttle boat to go home. Stunned, the captive audience
listened as the PA system broadcast Jimmy Cliff singing "Get up, stand up.
Stand up for your rights." As if on cue, a group of African American
Melrose employees came down the boardwalk with their fists raised high in
the air.
Back at Sea Pines Plantation, where the golf tournament was
concluding, three patrol boats stationed themselves to stop a repeat
performance at the 18th hole. The expected boat never came. Instead, a
plane appeared trailing a banner that read: "Melrose empoyees deserve a
fair contract now." For two hours, the plane circled overhead, leaving an
indelible memory for the thousands of golfers who had come to enjoy the
island pleasures made available to those with hefty paychecks and stock
portfolios.
After a week of little sleep and much fellowship, protesters gathered
at a local church for a banquet and the chance to reflect on what they had
achieved. Powerful men had resigned, workers took risks and stood up for
themselves, and the blissful ease of plantation life was disrupted at
every turn.
The strength the AFL-CIO and the IUOE brought to this year's protest
made it a particularly successful effort. While the week of actions didn't
achieve a total shut down, it was clear to workers, resort managers and
tourists alike that things will never be the same on Hilton Head.
"My fight will never be over until we get a fair share. Please remember Hilton Head Island is a resort island where we should be making resort money, not slave wages."
Doris Grant
