Federal Trial Against Space Needle Begins This Week

SEATTLE, WA – The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is taking the Space Needle to trial this week for numerous Unfair Labor Practice charges. As the labor dispute continues in its third year at the symbol of Seattle, the NLRB alleges the Space Needle has engaged in coercive actions and unlawful retaliation against union supporters.

The charges against the Space Needle include: unlawfully encouraging employees to resign from the union or not pay their dues, interrogating employees about their union support, and failing to recall union supporters after seasonal layoffs. The top lawyer for the National Labor Relations Board charges that these actions are interfering with, restraining, and coercing employees to discourage them from union participation.

“I have worked at the Space Needle for over 23 years, and I have never seen management act this way in union negotiations,” says Lee Plaster, a banquet captain at the Space Needle.  “They thought that this time they could bust the union and intimidate workers like me, but it has been almost three years and we are going to stay strong until we get justice, and a fair contract.”