The National Labor Relations Board has told a group of nine LA-area hotels it plans to file a complaint against them for declaring an impasse in contract negotiations with their employees, a hotel spokesman said Thursday.

"What the NRLB says the plan to do, is file a complaint, which means hold a hearing on the issue," said Fred Muir, spokesman for the Los Angeles Hotel Employers Council.

Still, if the agency deems the hotels broke labor laws, they could be forced to reimburse their roughly 3,000 employees for health premiums the workers have been forced to pay since the impasse was declared in July.

James Small, assistant to the NRLB's regional director, said both parties had been notified of the agency's decision but declined to elaborate. He said the agency had forwarded the complaint to a branch of the general counsel in Washington.

The general counsel can recommend the agency investigate a case further, dismiss the charge or issue a complaint, Small said.

The Local 11 of Unite Here, which represents the hotel maids, bellmen and other employees, hailed the NLRB's decision.

"This is a great victory for the workers, because either now the hotels are in a situation where they settle or they appeal, but whatever the case may be, the NLRB already ruled what they were doing is illegal," said union spokeswoman Hilda Delgado.

The hotels named in the complaint are the Hyatt Regency Los Angeles, Hyatt West Hollywood, Westin Century Plaza, St. Regis, Sheraton Universal, Wilshire Grand Hotel & Centre, Millennium Biltmore, Regent Beverly Wilshire and Westin Bonaventure.

The union and the hotels have been trying to negotiate terms of a new labor contract on and off since June, when the employees' last contract expired.

The hotel operators declared an impasse after the union rejected what they said in July was their "final" contract proposal.

The hotels contend that by declaring an impasse they were within their rights to charge a copayment of $10 a week toward their medical insurance coverage. The employees' previous contract included free health care.

The union decried the move as an illegal bargaining tactic and said it threatened its workers' ability to afford health care.

The union has filed dozens of complaints with the NLRB, including allegations that the hotels intimidated employees into quitting the union and pressured them into not participating in union-sponsored demonstrations.

Several of the complaints have been found to be meritless or withdrawn, Muir said.

Since July, both sides have returned to the bargaining table, on and off, but the hotel operators have continued to charge the workers the copayment.

Both sides remain deadlocked on the length of the contract, with the union seeking a deal that would align its next contract's expiration with that of several other regional hotel employees.

The hotels have sought a 5-year deal.

More News About the Los Angeles Hotel Workers' Struggle for a Fair Contract >>