D.C. Hotel Workers Approve New Contract
Staff -- Tradeshow Week, 1/31/2005
Washington, D.C., hotel workers have overwhelmingly ratified a new agreement, while negotiations continue between hotels and unionized workers in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Local 25 of Unite Here approved the new pact on Jan. 18, two days before the presidential inauguration. In the days leading to the tentative agreement, the 3,500 unionized hotel workers had threatened to walk off the job.
The new contract calls for increases in wages and pension benefits, as well as maintenance of health insurance without monthly premiums for employees. But the contract spans three years, rather than the two years the union was looking for.
The union was initially pushing for a contract that would expire at the same time as hotel worker contracts in six other cities. The strategy was intended to put the unionized workers in a better position to negotiate with national hotel chains.
About 4,000 members of Local 2 in San Francisco were on strike against 14 downtown hotels for four weeks last October and November, during which time San Francisco lost at least one meeting. The workers returned to their jobs for a 60-day cooling-off period that expired Jan. 23.
At one point during the strike, San Francisco hotel workers were calling organizers of upcoming meetings and reportedly urging them to cancel. According to hotel management, the hotel workers have recently returned to that tactic.
In December, some 10,000 striking Atlantic City casino workers approved a five-year agreement that the union called the best contract in the history of the gaming industry. Because they were dealing with different chains, the casino workers were not negotiating for a shorter contract.
