Union: William Penn Hotel hasn’t used PPP loans to pay workers
There are days Zebedee Williams will skip meals to make sure his children have enough to eat.
“I’d rather go without food. When they look at me ... and they’re hungry, it hurts,” he said. “I can see what they’re going through.”
It’s a look Mr. Williams, 42, never thought he’d have to see from his three daughters.
Until March 15, he worked as an overnight houseman at the Omni William Penn Hotel in Downtown making nearly $17 an hour. And then COVID-19 hit.
The venerable hotel hasn’t reopened since mid-March, when Mr. Williams was furloughed.
Despite receiving a $3.5 million loan under the federal Paycheck Protection Program for the hotel, at least 60% of which is to go toward payroll, Omni Hotels & Resorts has yet to rehire him or any of the other 261 workers represented by the union Unite Here.
For Mr. Williams, who is relying on food banks to survive, it’s “a real big slap in the face” from a company and a hotel he dedicated himself to for the last 3½ years, sometimes giving up vacation or days off to help out.
“I never had a job where they left me hanging like this,” he said.
The plight of Omni workers has prompted the union to call on the U.S. Small Business Administration and others to hold the Dallasbased hotel chain accountable for the loans it has received.
Carlos Aramayo, executive vice president of the Unite Here International Union, has asked the SBA and the U.S. Treasury Department to “apply strict scrutiny” to any
applications by Omni for the forgiveness of loans.
In the Dec. 8 letter, Mr. Aramayo said the chain — which operates 60 properties in the U.S., Canada and Mexico and employs 20,000 people — received 32 loans totaling about $76 million for its hotels under the PPP.
The William Penn is among three, according to the union, that have been temporarily closed and have not rehired or paid union members.
“As you know, the PPP was created by the federal government to help businesses maintain employment levels during the COVID-19 pandemic. The failure of these hotels to rehire their employees has financially harmed our members and created great uncertainty for them and their families,” Mr. Aramayo wrote. “So far, we have not received commitments from Omni to use the loans to fully rehire the workers we represent.”
In response to questions from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Omni stated it temporarily suspended operations at the William Penn in March to ensure the “longterm success of the hotel, our business and our associates.”
“Part of that long-term success includes the use of PPP loans as the legislation intended — which includes bringing as many associates back to work as soon as we’re able,” the hotel chain wrote.
“Unfortunately, with extremely low business volumes anticipated for the foreseeable future, operations at Omni William Penn remain suspended. To that end, any amount of the PPP loans that are not forgiven will be returned or repaid with interest per program terms. We’re grateful to have participated in the PPP loan program, as it has been instrumental to our survival during this pandemic.”
Asked about the union complaints regarding Omni and the William Penn, the SBA “does not comment on individual borrowers,” spokeswoman Shannon Giles said. “Evidence of waste, fraud and abuse with any of SBA’s loan programs is not tolerated and should be reported.”
Created in the $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief package approved by Congress last spring, the intent of the PPP was to provide help to businesses with 500 or fewer employees. But it also eased size restrictions related to the hotel and restaurant industries, both of which have been devastated by the pandemic.
That provision was specifically for companies that owned chains, which then allowed individual locations to apply for loans so long as those properties employed 500 or fewer people. The loans are made by individual lenders and guaranteed by the SBA.
However, the PPP has faced criticism on two fronts.
One is it permitted larger firms to grab forgivable loans targeted for small businesses. The other is it allowed businesses to accept
loans without recalling or retaining workers.
At the William Penn, union workers have faced “significant struggles,” including unemployment, lost health care and food insecurities since the hotel shut down, said Nia Winston, manager of the Unite Here Midwest joint board.
Will Arthur, a William Penn waiter, called the lack of help from Omni “pretty infuriating.”
“There seems like there’s no oversight. These loans went to big companies like Omni, and most of the money didn’t get passed out to workers,” he said.
In its statement, Omni noted it did not have a scheduled reopening date for the William Penn but is looking forward to the day when it can welcome guests back.
“In anticipation of that day, we stand ready and look forward to continuing to work with Unite Here and
the other unions representing Omni William Penn workers to resolve issues impacting the parties as a result of the pandemic and the innumerable ways it has changed all of our lives,” it stated.
Unite Here claims those issues include possible wage rollbacks and cuts in health care benefits. In addition, Omni, the union said, has yet to commit to extending the recall rights for employees beyond March 2021, raising fears its members could be permanently furloughed.
“The Omni William Penn has said nothing to workers. It has left them feeling insecure financially and not knowing whether they have a job to go back to,” Ms. Winston said.
For Mr. Williams, the March furlough has been devastating.
At the start, he was able to manage, thanks in part to the extra $600 in supplemental unemployment he had been receiving. But things got tougher after that ran out in July.
By September, he started visiting food banks for the first time in his life. He was so unfamiliar with waiting in line for food he said he had to watch TV to see how it worked.
The first time he tried, he ended up getting nothing because the line was so long. The next time, he arrived three hours before the distribution’s start and ended up getting two boxes of food.
Mr. Williams, of McKeesport, said he is trying to survive on the $300 a week he gets in unemployment. That was scheduled to run out this week, although he may get a reprieve since Congress has passed a new relief bill.
With jobs hard to find, Mr. Williams said he may apply for welfare. He added his 20year-old daughter has been helping as much as she can, but it is nowhere near enough to make ends meet.
He’s not sure whether he will have enough money next month to pay the rent on his one-bedroom apartment. He has been getting help from the Dollar Energy Fund and the Salvation Army to pay his utilities.
Mr. Williams is grateful for the assistance. But at the same time, he’s upset Omni hasn’t done more to help William Penn employees.
“If we’re part of the family, the Omni family, they’re leaving their family out in the cold,” he said.
In its response, Omni stated its charitable foundation has provided more than $3.1 million in grants to associates affected by the COVID19 crisis, including those from the William Penn.
“Throughout this global crisis, our greatest concern has been the hardship it placed on our Omni family, and we have diligently worked to minimize the impact,” it stated.
Natalie Tran, a Unite Here spokeswoman, said the union is aware of only one William Penn worker who has received help from the company.
Like Mr. Williams, Mr. Arthur, 27, of Beechview, has been off the job since mid-March. He has worked at the William Penn as a waiter since 2015 in the Palm Court area of the grand lobby and the Tap Room pub.
Mr. Arthur has been able to get by on unemployment and savings, but “it could get difficult” the longer the hotel stays closed. He hasn’t had health insurance since September after the $600 a week in supplemental unemployment ran out.
“It makes you nervous. You’re always worried about one fall,” he said.
Some union members, Ms. Winston noted, have been working at the hotel for more than 20 years and planned to stay until retirement.
“They were taking care of their families and living the middle class dream and what it meant to them, and unfortunately, that has been interrupted,” she said.