The vote by St. John Westin Resort employees Wednesday night and Thursday on whether to become unionized drew a strong turnout but yielded results that are too close to call, given that some of the votes are being challenged.
A total of 175 employees, which would be almost 80 percent of those eligible to vote, took part in the balloting, held under supervision of National Labor Relations Board observers on the grounds of the Great Cruz Bay resort. Shortly after the polls closed at 4 p.m. Thursday, vote counters announced the preliminary outcome — rejection by seven votes, 91 to 84, of representation by the United Steelworkers union.
Steelworkers local president Luis "Tito" Morales immediately challenged the eligibility of 19 voters, charging that they are resort managers or supervisors. "There are several reasons" for the challenges, he said. "Some we claim are supervisory, that is lead persons. Under the board purview, lead persons cannot vote."
Westin general manager Greg Lundberg said it's up to the NLRB to rule on the challenges. "The vote was closer than the number of votes subject to challenges, so now it's a legal thing," he said.
Neither Lundberg nor Morales would predict how long it would take for the NLRB to issue its findings regarding the challenges.
Lundberg said he was satisfied with the way the election was carried out. "The employees got to choose what they wanted to do," he said.