Each year, millions of commuters and tourists travel on San Francisco Bay ferries, unaware of political and personnel issues that are threatening at least one ferry operator with a very rough ride.
Josué Argüelles of Pride at Work addresses supporters of fired worker Vincent Atos during a protest at Alcatraz Cruises on April 19th.
BC Staff Report
Published: June, 2010
In November 2009, Hornblower fired Vincent Atos, a deckhand at Alcatraz Cruises, a subsidiary of Hornblower Yachts that operates the popular Hornblower Cruises & Events, for alleged sexual harassment of a co-worker. Atos, who had been voted “Employee of the Year” in 2007, says he was shocked by the accusation because the work environment at Alcatraz Cruises was so highly sexualized.
According to Atos, many employees regularly shared off-color jokes, made graphic comments, and some (not Atos) even shared pornographic images with one another at work. “We’re sailors. It’s not like we work in an office,” said Atos. “There’s lots of sex talk.” Despite the salty environment among the crew members, Atos—one of the few openly-gay employees—was disciplined for the same behavior that purportedly involved many others.
“I was the most flamboyant, queeny gay person there. Sure, I’d joke and flirt with friends and the guys I work with made gay jokes with me. I didn’t get offended because everyone was just having fun.”
Atos, as well as his supporters in San Francisco’s large LGBT community, are calling this a case of blatant anti-gay discrimination. “Vincent Atos was terminated for alleged conduct when worse conduct was tolerated by his straight co-workers and managers,” said David Waggoner, co-President of the Harvey Milk Club LGBT Democratic Club, in a letter to Hornblower CEO Terry MacRae. “This disparity in how alleged inappropriate behavior in the workplace is treated—combined with the complete absence of progressive discipline—suggests that Alcatraz Cruises management still believes they can get away with firing an employee for being gay,” said Waggoner.
Hornblower declined to comment specifically on the Atos matter and the allegations in this case due to company policy. Hornblower spokeswoman Tegan Firth said that the company has “a very strict anti-harassment policy that all employees sign” and noted that “there is no discrimination whatsoever within the ranks of the company.” In a letter to Waggoner, Hornblower further suggested that the story presented by Atos was not complete, and that the company was “confident you would take quite a different view of the matter if the full facts and truth were public knowledge.”
In December 2009, Atos filed a formal complaint against the company with the San Francisco Human Rights Commission (HRC), alleging that Alcatraz Cruises had discriminated against him based on his sexual orientation. Earlier this year, the HRC determined that mediation in the case was not possible because the two parties were too far apart to allow for a fair remedy. Atos is seeking reinstatement with back pay; Alcatraz Cruises says they won’t rehire him. The HRC is currently considering conducting a full investigation of the Atos case and likely will face strong pressure to do so from the gay community as well as local elected officials.
In late April, supporters of Atos, including members of Pride at Work and the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club, came out in force at Pier 33—Alcatraz Cruises’ dock—to hold a lively demonstration and press conference protesting the firing and alleged discrimination. The groups plan another action in June, during San Francisco Pride Month. The San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee recently passed a resolution calling on the HRC to conduct a full investigation of Atos’s firing and urging Alcatraz Cruises to rehire Atos and end its alleged discrimination against employees based on their sexual orientation.
Alcatraz Cruises also is facing charges of anti-union bias related to Atos’s termination. In addition to being openly gay, Atos claims he was the only employee who was “out” about his support for a union at Alcatraz Cruises and workers at Alcatraz Cruises have been trying to form a union, but encountered strong opposition from company officials.
Ferry service to Alcatraz Island is provided pursuant to a contract with the National Park Service. Before the Bush Administration awarded the new contract to Alcatraz Cruises in 2006, service to the former federal prison was provided by the Blue & Gold Fleet, where workers were represented by the Inlandboatmen’s Union (IBU), a division of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union that has represented workers on San Francisco’s waterfront since 1918. During the transition to Hornblower’s non-union service, the company refused to hire most of the experienced crewmembers from the Blue & Gold Fleet.
Atos’s supporters state that federal labor investigators will soon be conducting an inquiry into allegations that Alcatraz Cruises unlawfully fired Atos for supporting the union. Terminating a worker for supporting the union is illegal, but employers sometimes cite pretextual reasons to justify such a firing. In 2008, Alcatraz Cruises settled charges with the federal government’s National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) alleging that the company illegally interrogated workers and engaged in unlawful surveillance of union supporters.
In the letter to Waggoner, Hornblower emphatically denied that Atos was fired for his union organizing activities, noting that Alcatraz Cruises’ sister company in New York City, Statue Tours, is unionized, and stating that the company has “long stated that we believe that the [Alcatraz Cruises] crew … should be free to make its own choice whether it wishes to be represented by a union, or whether it wishes to be free from such representation.”
“This fight is about discrimination on the job and protecting the rights of every worker to join a union without losing their job,” said Waggoner in response. “Ferry customers shouldn’t be surprised if they see picket signs and protests on the waterfront until there’s justice for Vincent Atos and other ferry workers in the Bay Area.”
