Members of UNITE HERE, Local 2 commenced a two week strike this morning at four San Francisco hotels. The hotels include: Argent Hotel, Hilton San Francisco, Crowne Plaza Union Square and Mark Hopkins Inter-Continental. The hotel workers will return to work Wednesday, October 13th at 12:01a.m. A press conference with union leaders is scheduled for this afternoon.

Press Conference Today

Who: UNITE HERE, Local 2 Leaders

What: To discuss the purpose of the strike.

When: Wednesday, September 29 at 10:00am

Where: City Hall steps

San Francisco hotel workers have been working without a union contract since August 14. Although 15 bargaining sessions have been held, little progress has been made in the areas of: Continued comprehensive health care for hotel workers and their families; Fully funded pensions; Fair wage increases; Stopping unscrupulous subcontractors from their abusive treatment of night porters; Ending excessive workloads which began after September 11 when the hotel industry responded to a drop in tourism by laying off huge numbers of staff but failed to re-hire workers since tourism rebounded; Ensuring union security by protecting the rights of workers in newly developed or acquired hotels to be represented by a union; and the ability to bargain again in 2006.

The contract negotiations affect 8,000 union members at more than 60 hotels and motels amounting to 85% of the industry in San Francisco. UNITE HERE, Local 2 represents cooks, room cleaners, bartenders, bellmen, food and beverage servers, bussers, housemen, PBX operators and dishwashers.