Hotel Workers in L.A., SF, and Washington Cast Strong “YES” Votes to

Hotel workers in three cities voted to authorize strikes to demand equality and not allow the hotel industry to keep North American hotel workers in different cities separate from one another. On Monday, September 13, hotel workers in both Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. held strike authorization votes and workers in San Francisco followed with their vote the next day. UNITE HERE members in all three cities are demanding employer paid health benefits, fair workloads, decent wages, improved pensions, immigrant rights, and affirmative action rehiring. They are insisting on joining hotel workers in cities across North America, working for the same giant hotel companies, whose contracts expire in 2006, by negotiating two-year contracts now.

The votes taken by hotel workers in all three cities send a strong message to the hotel industry that over 10,000 hotel workers in Washington, Los Angeles, and San Francisco are ready to fight for their rights to be seen as equals. UNITE HERE members understand that if hotel workers across the continent are kept separate in their respective cities when they are negotiating with global hotel companies, they will never be seen as equals like we deserve.

In each of the three cities where strike authorization votes were held, UNITE HERE! members overwhelmingly voted “YES”. On September 13 th in Los Angeles, approximately 75% of the 2,800 eligible Local 11 members from nine Los Angeles Employers’ Council (EC) hotels came out to vote at a new downtown cathedral. A strong majority of 85% of voting workers voted to authorize the union negotiating committee to call a strike. The same day, across the country in Washington, D.C., nearly two-thirds of 3,500 eligible Local 25 members at 14 major downtown hotels voted by an overwhelming 94% to authorize the union to go on strike two days before their contract expired. In San Francisco , the following day, 97% of 3,200 voting Local 2 members also voted “YES”. In addition, almost 1,300 workers from dozens of other San Francisco hotels turned out to sign a solidarity pledge-committing to support their brothers and sisters in the event of a strike or lockout.

The overwhelming “YES” votes cast in all three cities show that we are truly working as one union in our industry.