UNITE-HERE moved closer to achieving nationwide hotel bargaining strength on Friday as the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles agreed to a key concession. The hotel union's strategy is to have hotel contracts in major cities across the country expire simultaneously next year, thereby giving the workers the ability to call a nationwide strike. Eight hotels in LA are facing pressure from a boycott, and the Hilton is scene as the first to buckle. The union says it may be a sign that negotiations have reached a "tipping point." New York City, Boston and Chicago hotels have agreed to the 2006 expiration date.