San Francisco's Palace Hotel on Strike!

Palace Hotel workers walked off the job this morning, announcing a three-day strike. Approximately 350 workers are participating in the strike, which began at 4:00 a.m. today, and will last until the first shift on Friday morning.

“It’s clear management still thinks they can use this year’s economy as an excuse to permanently slash our health care,” said Elena Duran, who has worked as a server at the Palace for 18 years.... “But we’re not going to let these hugely profitable companies get away with that.”

According to Unite Here Local 2's website, the Palace is managed by Starwood Hotels & Resorts [NYSE:HOT], the same company that manages the Westin St. Francis, W, and St. Regis hotels. Starwood earned $180 million in profits during the first nine months of this year, and its stock price has risen 85% since January 1. The Palace Hotel’s owner is controlled by Cerberus Capital Management, one of Wall Street’s biggest investment firms. In addition to hotels, Cerberus owns banks, retailers, and gun manufacturers.

The three-day strike at the Palace Hotel comes on the heels of a similar strike last week at the Grand Hyatt on Union Square. Workers at the Grand Hyatt are now back on the job, but the hotel workers' union continues to call on customers to boycott the hotel. Workers at 29 other upscale San Francisco hotels have authorized work stoppages if necessary.