When Hurricane Katrina devastated the Louisiana and Mississippi Gulf Coast region in late August, thousands of UNITE HERE members were left without homes, basic necessities, and their jobs. Since then, UNITE HERE members and staff have helped implement local programs to locate and support displaced members, including visiting local shelters, providing wage and benefit information and financial assistance. But hurricane victims will continue to need our assistance in order to rebuild their lives and their communities, and create a stronger middle-class out of the devastation in the region.

This holiday season, please consider giving generously to the UNITE HERE Hurricane Relief Fund. Your contributions are tax-deductible and will go a long way to making sure that our members and their families can enjoy their holiday season.

The members of the Mid-Atlantic Region and Local 25 endorsed Baltimore City Mayor Martin O’Malley for Governor of Maryland. This marks the first time in the current gubernatorial race that all of a labor union’s affiliates with members in Maryland have gotten behind the same candidate.

Late last week, a coalition of unions, community organizations and faith-based groups in Minneapolis won the nation’s most recent living wage victory when the City Council voted overwhelmingly to strengthen a previous living wage policy. Under the new ordinance, companies with city contracts or city subsidies worth $100,000 or more or those that receive city subsidies of $100,000 or more must pay a wage of $12.09 per hour. The ordinance also includes enforcement mechanisms and financial penalties for organizations that fail to comply.

Labor coalition members include UNITE HERE Local 17, SEIU Minnesota State Council, Teamsters DRIVE, the Minneapolis Central Labor Union Council, and the Twin Cities Coalition of Labor Union Women. Since 1994, more than 100 communities have enacted living wage laws, which cover a wide range of workers-“municipal employees, those working for city and county contractors, health care workers and college and university employees.

On October 24, we bid goodbye to Rosa Parks, the civil rights leader who became famous when she refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus to a white man, and who helped lead the ensuing civil rights movement. Mrs. Parks worked with the UNITE HERE Civil Rights department on several occasions, most specifically with our civil rights designees as one of our first presenters to our predecessor union ACTWU during a Martin Luther King Jr. celebration in Atlanta. She charged us with staying focused on the importance of civil rights and human rights, and she made special comments to the diversity of our committee and saluted our union for our vision in making diversity a reality rather than rhetoric.Mrs. Parks was a personal friend to Martha Wilson from our Detroit office/region and to International Vice President Clayola Brown.

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Los Angeles, CA-"Several hundred Los Angeles hotel workers and their community allies engaged in a spirited march and -�teatro-� at the non-union Glendale Hilton Hotel last week. The teatro, -�Hilton on Trial,-� featured a stylishly dressed -�Paris Hilton-� defending the company against charges that the hotel violated wage and hour laws. In reality, workers at the Glendale Hilton have obtained legal representation to file wage and hour claims against the hotel, specifically alleging violations of law concerning meal breaks, rest breaks, and proper payment of overtime. The claims will be filed in Los Angeles in the near future.

Chicago, IL–HMS Host workers at one of the nation’s largest and busiest airports, O’Hare International Airport, will picket this week to inform the public about the poverty wages and poor benefits they receive as employees. "I’m trying to save enough money to bring my four-year-old son from Ecuador to live with me," says Ambar Vera, a Starbucks worker at O’Hare Airport, "but with the wages I make, I don’t know when I will be able to see him again." After a year and half on the job, Ambar makes $6.55 an hour, and pays $140 per month for her health insurance.

HMS Host operates several foodservice outlets in O’Hare, including Starbuck’s, Chili’s, and Cinnabon. Contract negotiations with HMS Host broke off earlier this week. Under the expired union contract, the starting wage for HMS Host workers is $6.35 per hour. Despite these low wages, workers must pay between $90- $175 for individual health insurance, and $250-$480 per month to cover their families. Less than half of the 900 HMS Host employees at O’Hare are covered by the company’s health plan.

"Over 75 million travelers come through this airport every year," says Henry Tamarin, President of UNITE HERE Local 1. "O’Hare is the biggest and busiest airport in the nation, but the workers who keep things running get left behind." HMS Host workers at Los Angeles and Las Vegas airports start at $9.42 and $10.78 per hour, respectively. Workers in both cities also enjoy free individual and family health coverage. HMS Host is owned by an Italian conglomerate, Autogrill SpA. The company made $72 million in revenues at O’Hare in 2003.

Volney, NY–UNITE HERE Local 701T members at Interface Solutions ratified a new contract last Friday. The new contract came almost two months after the company locked out union members when they began picketing the plant following failed contract negotiations. The local had announced that it would file a lawsuit against the company, claiming various violations of the labor agreement. The first shift of workers returned to the plant earlier this week. Workers at Interface Solutions manufacture flooring felt and gasket products for automobile makers.

Madison, WI-"At the Common Council meeting of October 11, a new ordinance creating humane standards for city garment purchases was adopted unanimously. The new policy requires that apparel purchases by the city, like uniforms for police, fire and parks departments, be made in conditions that respect the economic dignity and human rights of workers, including the right to organize.

"Today, Madison has finally joined the list of responsible governments across the country that have prohibited taxpayer dollars from being used to purchase garments that were made under the deplorable and inhumane conditions of sweatshop labor," said Ald. Austin King, district 8, the sponsor of the ordinance. The Council had previously passed a resolution in April calling for such a policy to be drafted. The ordinance sets up a process whereby the city can utilize an independent monitoring organization to report back on the conditions of factories where the city’s garments are being produced.

At over 40 campuses across the United States, students are demanding that their colleges and universities take the next step in ending sweatshops. The United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) has developed the New Sweatfree Campaign, which demands that all collegiate apparel brands source from good factories, where workers have a legitimate, representative union or other representative employee body–and that they pay enough so that workers can negotiate for a living wage. UNITE HERE is supporting the USAS campaign as part of its international anti-sweatshop campaign. Participating schools include Boston College, Brown University, SUNY Albany, Purdue University and Temple University. The students’ plan would put an end to the squeeze on garment supplier factories to drive down wages and working conditions, and would create a guaranteed market for factories which live up to internationally recognized worker rights standards.

Chicago, IL–On September 21, hundreds of hotel members of UNITE HERE Local 1 in Chicago voted overwhelmingly to increase their strike fund contributions an extra $10 a month. The extra contribution will stay in effect until the 2006 contract is settled. "We’ve got to get ready to fight," said Margarita Arellano, a room attendant at the W City Center. "The companies keep piling on the work, and it’s too much. I fought for a new law so we could get paid breaks every day. But the companies are suing to overturn the law. See how mean they are?" Chicago workers joined with their brothers and sisters in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Honolulu, who have all voted to build their strike fund. Visit www.hotelworkersunited.org for more information.