On Friday, August 14th, hotel workers from Unite Here Local 2 rallied and marched for a new contract that preserves affordable health care and job security. Contracts covering 9,000 Local 2 members are expiring, and hotel workers are gearing up to fight employer attempts to undermine work and living standards in the San Francisco hotel industry. After years of record profitability, employers in the hotel industry are using the 6-month economic downturn to cut jobs and increase the workload for those who remain.

Local 2 suspects that employers will attempt to undercut the citywide standard for health care coverage. "The most important thing to me in this contract and always is health care," says Aurolyn Rush, a 13-year employee of the Grand Hyatt. "I was diagnosed with cancer twice and if it wasn't for the affordable health care coverage that I receive in our union contracts, I wouldn't have made it this far. Times are tough, but this is a life or death issue for us."

In their 2004-2006 contract negotiations, more than 4,000 Local 2 members endured a 53-day strike and lockout and worked for two years without a contract before reaching the agreement that is now expiring. The hotel workers' 2004-2006 contract campaign included high-profile actions, civil disobedience, and extensive community support.

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