Hollywood heavyweight and activist Danny Glover helped aim the spotlight on a labour dispute at a Niagara Falls hotel Wednesday.

But he and the union he's supporting warned they may soon shift the focus to the St. Catharines Holiday Inn, where a bid to hammer out a contract for recently organized workers has ground to a halt.

The hotel's labour woes were already targeted by a well-orchestrated and highly publicized campaign last fall and winter. Backed by Glover and a number of entertainers and politicians, the Workers United union's "Stand with Diane" campaign used big billboards across the city to draw attention to a Holiday Inn housekeeper -- Diane Barnim -- who was fired by the hotel during a unionization drive she helped lead last summer.

The campaign may soon be ramped up again.

"If the Holiday Inn continues (to stall), the next protest will be back at the Holiday Inn," Workers United president Bruce Raynor said prior to a Niagara Falls rally with Glover.

"The billboards will go back up and the campaign will begin, if the company continues to fool around."

Glover, best known for his role alongside Mel Gibson in the Lethal Weapon series, maintained the union will help improve working and living conditions for employees at the hotel.

"Through unions and through our work in the public spheres, we're creating democracy," he said during a stop at the offices of Workers United Local 2347 in Niagara Falls. Labour problems at the Holiday Inn began last August when Barnim contacted Unite Here -- a predecessor to Workers United -- which represents textile, hotel, restaurant, hospitality, apparel and retail workers.

Hoping to improve salary and working conditions, Barnim and another employee started handing out union membership cards, according to Ontario Labour Relations Board documents. Shortly after the union drive began, Barnim, who had been working at the hotel for five years, was fired in early September.

The union contended Barnim was terminated because of her leading role in attempts to unionize workers.

But hotel management alleged Barnim was caught going though personal pay stubs discarded in a wastebasket in the general manager's office, which led to her termination, according to the labour board documents.

Last October, the labour board ordered the company to hire Barnim back, pending a hearing on the merits of the union's unfair labour practice complaint about her firing.

The two sides settled the labour practice complaint last March, paving the way for the union to set up shop at the hotel.

But three months later, the two sides have yet to work out a collective bargaining agreement.

Raynor argued hotel management is using a split between the leadership of Unite Here and Workers United last March as "an excuse" to avoid negotiations.

"We're calling on the company to act right. They should recognize the union, they agreed to do that. They agreed to sit down and negotiate a collective agreement and they're not doing it," he said.

Holiday Inn general manager John Nitsopolous couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday.

Management at the Niagara Falls Courtyard by Marriott, where workers voted last December to join the union, is using the same tactic, Raynor said.

Glover, who has made several previous trips to Niagara Falls to support unionized hotel workers, headlined an information picket at the Victoria Avenue hotel Wednesday.

"Some people say I look more passionate doing this than I do in my field," Glover joked with the crowd of about 100 union supporters during a brief speech.

Most of the time Glover was at the rally was spent walking the picket line and chanting slogans with the workers, who are represented by Workers United.

Employees of Courtyard by Marriott originally voted to join Unite Here, but became part of Workers United following the split earlier this year.

Glover said he believes workers not only have the right to unionize, but to decide which union they want to represent them.

The rally lasted about two hours and was peaceful, said hotel general manager Jeremy Brown.

Brown said the company was "disappointed" three of the hotel's departments voted in favour of joining a union last December.

Still, said Brown, the company started negotiations "in a timely fashion," but now finds itself caught in the middle of a feud between two unions that both claim to represent Courtyard by Marriott workers.

"As much as we would like to continue negotiations, it is not possible until it is determined which organization represents the interests of the employees of this hotel," Brown said.

Glover said the hotel's position sets a dangerous precedent.

"This could set a pattern -- not only here, but in the rest of the country -- if the company doesn't feel they have a responsibility to bargain fairly because of this internal dispute," he said.

While the "Stand with Diane" campaign generated interest across North America from big names, such as Glover, Canadian actress Sarah Polley and singer Harry Belafonte, not all workers at the hotel were on board with it.

Several employees who contacted The Standard said most workers had no interest in organizing. They pointed to a certification vote last November of 35-1 against unionizing.

But the union maintains the vote shows workers were afraid they could be fired like Barnim.

-- with files from Sun Media