SF Labor Day 2004: Thousands Picket Hotels; Many Arrested for a Union Contract

Thousands of hotel workers, Local 2, turned out in San Francisco in the searing heat to demand the big hotels sign a union contract. About a hundred were arrested for sitting on the cable car tracks in front of the St. Francis Hotel.

The hotel workers' contract expires September 14 at most of the big hotels, with other hotel contacts expiring soon thereafter . The big hotels are Argent Hotel, Crowne Plaza Union Square, Fairmont San Francisco, Four Seasons San Francisco, Grand Hyatt, Hilton San Francisco, Holiday Inn Civic Center, Holiday Inn Express, Holiday Inn Fisherman's Wharf, Hyatt Regency San Francisco, Mark Hopkins Inter-Continental, Omni San Francisco Hotel, Sheraton Palace Hotel and Westin St. Francis. Not all hotels are union; that must change.

It was inspiring to finally see a Labor Day labor action in San Francisco, involving thousands of workers of all colors and ages. The dispute involves elimination of healthcare benefits for workers and their families, lack of decent wage increases, and poor working conditions. The union has agreed to concessions in past contracts that now makes it possible for these swanky Class A hotels to make a profit with 47% occupancy. Since San Francisco is everybody's favorite city all year round, the occupancy is over 60%, and in peak periods, much higher. The tourist industry is vital to San Francisco's economy, and the beneficiaries of this crucial industry must be labor, for it is labor that makes possible the tourist industry.

Local 2 is the combined Hotel and Restaurant Workers Union (HERE) and Union of Needletrades, Textiles and Industrial Employees (UNITE) in San Francisco. It represents about 8,000 workers at the hotels where the contracts will soon expire. The strike vote will take September 14, 2004.

It was very inspiring to see ordinary people collectively act to advance their and our needs as workers. The need for a labor movement is crucial if we are to advance in this country and stop fascism. Hopefully, if a strike vote is taken, they will take seriously the slogan, "No contract, no work," and shut down all the hotels, uinon and non-union, and all other workers should honor the picketlines, as picketlines mean don't cross. It is long overdue that all private profit businesses be organized. There has been far too little labor organizing, which is why the employers think they can get away with these constant attacks on labor. It is time for a serious fightback.