SAN FRANCISCO --
City hotels and their workers here agreed to a 60-day cooling off
period Nov. 20, ending a hotel lockout that has lasted more than
one month.
Under the agreement,
workers will end their strike and the hotels, in return,
represented by the San Francisco Multi-Employer Group, will no
longer lock them out.
Members of the Unite
Here! Local 2 hotel workers union returned to their jobs this week.
Hotels involved in the lockout include the Argent, the Crown Plaza
Union Square, the Fairmont, the Four Seasons, the Grand Hyatt, the
Hilton, the Holiday Inn Civic Center, the Holiday Inn Express
Fishermans Wharf, the Holiday Inn at Fishermans Wharf, the Palace
Hotel, the Hyatt Regency, the InterContinental Mark Hopkins, the
Omni and the Westin St. Francis.
Hotel owners and
workers are expected to be back at the negotiating table to work
out outstanding contract issues related to medical benefits,
pension contributions, retiree benefits, right to organize, and
wages, among other things. The union also is pressing for a
two-year, rather than one-year, contract.
The labor dispute
began over contract negotiations, which led to a two-week work
stoppage on Sept. 29. Hotel owners responded on Oct. 13 by locking
out their unionized employees.
To contact
the reporter who wrote this article, send e-mail to Michael
Milligan at [email protected].