By Jesse Russell

After a strike, a lockout and a heated labor dispute running for nearly two years - hotel workers in San Francisco have reached a tentative agreement with their employers. More than 4,000 workers from 14 hotels are represented by UNITE-Here who has been meeting with hotel management daily for two weeks straight. The hotels reportedly dropped an attempt to split employee benefits into two tiers - one of the major sticking point for the workers. Last month the workers had voted in favor of strike action if a contract agreement could not be reached.

By Doug Cunningham

Chicago hotel workers represented by UNITE-HERE have won a settlement with Hilton and are continuing to talk with Hyatt and Starwood hotels. UNITE-HERE’s Lars Negstad says the Hilton contract is a victory for the workers.

[Lars Negstad 1]: “It's an excellent agreement with major improvements in not only in the wages and benefits but also workload issues, which is a major factor this year."

Negstad says the Chicago hotel workers are part of a national movement this year called Hotel Workers Rising.

[Negstad 2]: “Overall what we're lookin' to do is raise up hotel workers into the middle class. These are jobs that are gonna remain here in the United States and we need to make sure these jobs are going to be living wage jobs."

By Jesse Russell

As hotels become more extravagant, injury rates have increased. That's according to a study by UNITE-Here called "Creating Luxury, Enduring Pain." After examining 87 unionized hotels - including Hiltons, Hyatts and Marriots - the study found that during the last three years 30 percent of all injuries at hotels were experienced by housekeepers - a jump of four percent since 2001. The housekeepers experience injuries at twice the rate of other hotel workers. This year is important for UNITE-Here as the union faces multiple hotel contract expirations in major cities across the country. The union is hoping to use the nationwide expirations as leverage in helping raise wages and address many of the concerns raised in the study. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the average take home for a housekeeper in the United States is $17,310 per year.

By Jesse Russell

San Francisco hotels could lose close to $50 million next year because of an ongoing labor dispute. Five groups are currently considering moving their conventions if an agreement isn't reached between 14 hotels and workers represented by UNITE-HERE local 2. The two sides have been unable to reach an agreement during contract negotiations. Workers have been without a contract since August of last year in a grueling battle that has included strikes and an employee lockout. The workers are seeking comprehensive healthcare, fair wage increases, fully funded pensions and card check neutrality.

After a one-day strike, 34 workers were temporarily fired at a resort in Turtle Bay Hawaii. The workers, represented by the Hotel and Restaurant Employees union walked out to protest disciplinary actions against two other workers. Benchmark Hospitality, who owns the hotel, said it had no choice but to bring in replacement workers. Employees of the hotel have been without a contract for more then two years. The union has accused the owner of intimidating workers. Benchmark failed in an attempt to get a restraining order against the union.

UNITE-HERE, a union that represents hotel, restaurant and textile workers saw two major victories in the past two weeks. The union announced on Tuesday that an agreement had been reached with Angelica Textile Corporation. The union can now initiate organizing efforts at the company's non-union facilities. The agreement also includes new collective bargaining terms for the Antioch, New York plant. Last week UNITE won a major victory in LA when a tentative agreement was announced with the Hotel Employers Council. The agreement follows a 14-month battle where the hotels faced boycotts, strikes and the workers in turn were threatened with lockouts.

The dominos have begun to tumble for a coalition of hotels that has been struggling with the hotel workers' union. Two of the nine broke down on Thursday and conceded to a demand by UNITE-HERE to have hotel contracts across the country end in 2006. The deal will give the union the ability to call a nationwide solidarity strike, giving it an extra ace in the sleeve when going up against multinational chains. The Sheraton Los Angeles agreed to the contract as the general manager for the Wilshire Grand called on the other coalition members to close the deal for the sake of the local economy. The hotel council is now down to seven members who are contractually obligated to sign as a group.

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.

The San Francisco hotel stand-off is once again moving toward it's boiling point. Thirty seven protestors were taken into "protective custody" by police on Tuesday. They were a portion of a 500 strong contingent of UNITE-Here local 2 employees who marched on the San Francisco Hilton. The demonstration came out of frustration over a contract negotiation stalemate between the union and 14 downtown hotels. The two sides had agreed to a "cooling-off" period last November after a two-week strike and six-week lockout. Health, contract length, wages and pensions are all concerns of the workers.

A rally is being held today in Monterey Bay, California to show support for hotel workers who had their wages frozen and contributions to their pensions and health benefits elminated. The rally is part of more than seven months of demonstrations in front of the Monterey Bay Travelodge. The 13 housekeepers 12 of whom are Latino women, voted for a boycott in November of 2004. Previous rallies held by UNITE-HERE have attracted more than 1000 supporters.

Thousands of hotel workers represented by UNITE-HERE in San Francisco continue to struggle with hotel owners over settlement of a fair contract for the workers. UNITE-HERE Local 2 Communications Director Valerie Lapin says health care, pensions and pay raises are issues that remain unresolved in on and off talks with hotel management.

[Valerie Lapin 1]: "We've been at the bargaining table on and off but we're still quite a distance apart on some major issues, particularly in the area of health care."

In Los Angeles, out of respect for hotel workers that have been without a contract for ten months, former President Bill Clinton cancelled plans to attend a lunch being held at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. Century Plaza shares a boycott list with six other hotels in that city.

UNITE-HERE Local 11 heads back into more talks with eight luxury hotels in the Los Angeles area today as hotel workers struggle to win fair and just contracts. Local 11 President Maria Elena Durazo says big issues include the cost of health insurance and workloads and she says the hotels are agressively anti-workerŠ

[Maria Elena Durazo 1]: "Their taking a very, very aggressive anti-worker campaign in all the workplaces and so it is a constant daily battle inside those hotels."

UNITE-HERE is encouraging a boycott of Hyatt, Hilton and Starwood hotels.

[Bush]: We will give our fellow Americans greater freedom from want and fear and make our society more prosperous and just and equal.

While President George W. Bush gave his inauguration speech and laid out his hopes for the next four years, protestors who disagree with his policies and plans held a counterinauguration nearby. The main protest was hosted by ANSWER a national organization that is demanding a end to war and racism. Brian Becker, National Coordinator for the organization, highlighted a recent coordination between UNITE-Here and ANSWER. They helped hotel workers in Washington, D.C. who had been without a contract for more than two years, get the hotels to the bargaining table and sign off on a contract that met the workers standards. Becker said it was an important moment because it shows how organizations working together can define the direction for the Bush mandate.

[Becker]: Forty-six or forty-seven million people in can't go to a doctor when they are sick because healthcare in America is for profit. Rather than to cure the sick. The mandate must be not just some healthcare, but healthcare for all.

UNITE-HERE Hotel workers in Washington D.C. have overwhelmingly approved a very good contract won through strong solidarity and smart tactics and timing. UNITE HERE Local 25 Secretary Treasurer John Boardman.

[John Boardman 1]: "In virtually every major section of the contract we sought to change we prevailed upon."

In a big victory for workers UNITE-HERE won the largest wage hikes in 25 years, 100 percent employer paid health insurance and a 30 percent increase in pensions. Workers at other hotels have noticed and Boardman says its time to organize!

UNITE HERE is in talks again today with hotel management in Washington D.C. UNITE HERE’s Press Secretary Amanda Cooper says progress was made last week and she’s hopeful about today’s talks.

[Cooper 1]: “We hope that every time we get together we make progress but we’re still in strike preparation because if we don’t get to the contract that we need by the fifteenth we need to move on.”

Workers at fourteen hotels in Washington DC are looking to the Presidential Inauguration to reignite stalled contract negotiations.

[Cooper1] "The workers have been working without a contract for more than three months."

Amanda Cooper is the press secretary for UNITE-HERE representing 3,800 hotel workers in Washington DC.

[Cooper2] "The guest experience is completely dependent on the work of our members and the administration wants to show their guests a good time, however it's a challenge for our members to get excited about serving the guests when management has shown them so little respect in the form of a sub-standard contract."

As the month-long hotel strike in San Francisco slogs on, hotel workers across the country are beginning to show solidarity. On Monday, a picket line was set up in front of a Regency Hyatt in Monterey, California and many workers refused to cross, disrupting hotel service. The Monterey protest was in solidarity with the workers who are currently striking against 14 hotels in San Francisco. Represented by UNITE-HERE, the two sides are unable to come to an agreement over wages, benefits and the length of the next contract. A similar solidarity strike was held in Boston two weeks ago.

On Sunday San Fransisco mayor, Gavin Newsom called on hotel managers to end the locked-out of 4,500 union workers at fourteen San Francisco hotels.

Manuel Castro, member of UNITE-HERE Local 2.

[Castro1] "We are striking because they want to cut our benefits, they want to cut our wages."

In addition to San Francisco, contracts have expired in Washington DC and Los Angeles and workers want to bring their contract in line with other major hotel markets for simultaneous negotiations 18 months from now. The hotels have decided to play hardball by turning what was originally a two-week strike into an indefinite lock-out.

Hotel managers say their lockout of striking San Francisco workers will last indefinitely. Over 1,400 workers at four downtown hotels are on strike. In response, the SaSanrancisco hotel Multi-Employer group locked out 2,600 non-striking workers at ten other hotels. UNITE-HERE Local 2 President Mike Casey...

[Casey1] "They're playing hardball because they're a global corporation so they're used to getting their way and they aren't used to having to sit down as equals across the bargaining table from people.

Casey said workers are trying to protect health and pension benefits, cut workloads and get more pay.