Washington, DC–More than 170 members of UNITE HERE attended the Industrial Union Conference in Washington, DC, May 9-10. Together with more than 1,200 other union members, they lobbied Congress to oppose the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA). Members explained that the DR-CAFTA trade deal, which has been in discussion for several years, will threaten labor rights, erode workplace standards and serve to line the pockets of mega-corporations. Mary Sandoval, a member of Local 23-25, stated that “CAFTA will only make corporations rich and all workers poor because while we lose jobs in the US, companies continue to exploit workers in Guatemala.” Union members also told Congress not to gamble with their retirement money and to fix social security, not destroy it.

Los Angeles–In what may prove to be the "tipping point" in L.A.’s year-old hotel labor dispute, the famed 570-room Beverly Hilton Hotel has reached an agreement with UNITE HERE Local 11 that improves workers’ wages, maintains free family health benefits, and expires in 2006. Nearly half the LA area hotels with contracts that expired in 2004 have now settled with the union. In addition to the Beverly Hilton, the other settled hotels are the Bel Air, Radisson Wilshire Plaza, Luxe Summit Rodeo Drive, Sportsmen’s Lodge, and Holiday Inn Convention Center.

In sharp contrast, eight hotels of the L.A. Hotel Employer’s Council (EC) refuse to accept a similar offer from the union. These hotels are: the Biltmore, Bonaventure, Wilshire Grand, Hyatt Regency, Sheraton Universal, Beverly Wilshire, Hyatt on Sunset, and Century Plaza.

Representatives at the news conference from the National Educational Association and the California Teachers Association will describe how the on-going labor dispute may impact the NEA’s annual convention in Los Angeles this July. The NEA convention is one of the largest annual gatherings nationally, bringing some 15,000 delegates to the host city.

UNITE HERE Local 11 estimates the EC hotels have already foregone more than $10 million in revenues as a result of the dispute and the boycott.

Visit www.HotelWorkersUnited.org for more information.

On Wednesday, April 20, thousands of teachers, graduate employees, researchers, support and service staff, and building trades workers will converge at Columbia University, 116th Street and Broadway, at 4PM. This action will be part of a week of strike actions by graduate employee unions at Columbia University, affiliated with UAW, and Yale, affiliated with UNITE HERE. Action participants will be sending a strong message to the universities that all workers have a right to form unions, and that the universities must respect the right to bargain collectively.

The Los Angeles hotels boycott is gaining steam as more and more supporters honor the boycott by not holding events. In a recent survey Local 11 confirmed that more than 126 events have pulled out of the boycotted hotels or have decided not to book their events at the nine hotels. During conversations with several of the hotels’ clients, customers expressed that canceling an event because of the boycott is very difficult but deciding not to book a future event is easy. As word spreads of the L.A. hotels’ boycott, the boycott will only get worse for the hotels as future business is affected. With millions of dollars already lost, the hotels have reason for serious concern.

Jesse Jackson, a boycott supporter and long time friend of hotel workers, came to Los Angeles in March and visited workers inside the Century Plaza Hotel. Together, workers at the hotel and Jesse Jackson delegated the General Manager who happened to be meeting with the owners of the Century Plaza at the time. Jesse Jackson and head chef Donald Wilson talked to the owners about their fight for a fair contract and how they should honor the rights of the workers who make his company’s hotel profitable every day.

International support for hotels workers in the U.S. also continues to grow. After their exciting delegation to Los Angeles, Korean union representatives went back to Korea and continued to make noise by meeting with Wilshire Grand owner Korean Air Lines and their parent company, Hanjin. The Korean union has also been sending letters ever since the Korean delegates returned to Seoul. Thanks to the Korean union, tensions inside the company are rising.

In further international news, Mexican union representatives just returned home after a very exciting visit to Los Angeles. They participated with several hundred Local 11 members and community supporters in a -�Banquet In The Streets-� action held April 13 in front of the Century Plaza Hotel. L.A. workers were showing customers and the public they should honor their boycott of the hotel by -�eating in the streets-� not at the hotel. The Mexican delegation also participated in delegations to management at several other L.A. hotels resisting a fair contract and promised to continue the fight in support of UNITE HERE’s struggle upon their return to Mexico.

Berkeley, CA– For over three years, approximately 100 non-union spa workers at the Claremont Resort & Spa in Berkeley have been fighting for the right to unionize without management interference, while over 300 union members have been fighting for a fair union contract with affordable family healthcare. Please support the Claremont Resort workers by clicking here to send a free fax to John Martin, Fairmont’s Corporate Director of Professional Relations, urging Fairmont to turn over a new leaf at the Claremont Resort & Spa by settling the long-standing labor dispute.

Two weeks ago, thousands of UNITE HERE members and retirees participated in several actions across the country to protest the Bush administration’s plan to privatize Social Security. In actions targeting Charles Schwab offices, the union activists demanded that Wall Street firms, which stand to make billions of dollars in investment fees, keep their hands off retirement benefits. –

San Francisco.The 4,300 hotel workers who are members of Local 2, continue their fight for respect on the job, decent healthcare, fair wages and the right for non-union workers to choose union representation in an environment free of coercion and intimidation. If you are in the Bay area, please join them on their picket lines to show your solidarity. Join us:

• Friday, 4/8 Grand Hyatt 2pm-6pm
• Tuesday, 4/12 Hyatt Regency 2pm-6pm
• Thursday, 4/14 St. Francis 11am-1pm

Los Angeles. Local 11 hotel workers and allies are planning a picket line and rally on Wednesday, April 13 at the Century Plaza Hotel. The action will include an "Eat in the Street" demonstration involving a banquet to bring attention to the continuing boycott of the Century Plaza Hotel.

On March 29, Maida Springer Kemp, a lifelong activist and ILGWU leader, passed away after a long illness. Born on May 10, 1910 in Panama, Springer Kemp came to the United States and settled in Harlem at the age of seven. She became influenced by the civil rights activism in Harlem, and when she became a garment worker in the 1930s, she brought her political ideals to the ILGWU, a predecessor of UNITE HERE. Springer Kemp became an ardent labor activist, and helped build important alliances between the black community and labor. Her leadership abilities were recognized and respected, earning her the reputation as the –

Another large group has pulled their business out of a boycotted San Francisco Multi-Employer Group hotel. The California Applicants’ Attorneys Association, whose members represent injured workers, has moved its June conference out of the Hyatt Regency Hotel. One thousand members were expected to attend. Local 2 members and supporters continue to turn out in full force to demonstrate against the lack of progress at the bargaining table and to spread the word about the hotel boycott. Picket lines are scheduled April 6 at the St. Francis, April 8 at the Grand Hyatt, April 12 at the Hyatt Regency and April 14 at the St. Francis.

When UNITE HERE launched the drive to save the Plaza Hotel several weeks ago, it was hoped that the campaign would draw the attention of the New York public. But it has done better than that, garnering worldwide attention. At a rally held outside the hotel on March 14, television news crews from Italy, Spain, Brazil, Germany and Japan joined local reporters in covering the event. More than 500 Local 6 members attended the event and were joined by supporters from all walks of life in New York.

Speakers included the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rabbi Jay Rosenbaum, Father Peter Colapietro and Assistant Imam Tariq Shareek, who all said that the Plaza was more than a building and that efforts should be made to save the hotel and the employees who work inside it.

Hotel Trades Council President Peter Ward has reported that talks between the union and Elad Properties continue. The company has proposed creating a small luxury hotel on the 58th Street side of the Plaza that would save 150 of the Plaza’s 900 union jobs.

The union is demanding that a larger portion of the Plaza remain as a hotel and is joined in this demand by numerous elected officials, celebrities, historians, preservationists and other prominent New Yorkers.

In the weeks ahead the union will be engaging in arbitration and will appear with experts before the LPC to save some of the Plaza’s most renowned interior spaces and prevent them from being converted to retail use. There is a general membership meeting scheduled for Tuesday, April 5 at Radio City Music Hall at 4:00 p.m. Seating is on a first come first saved basis. Following the meeting is a march to the Plaza and a rally.