Communist
7th January 2010, 05:41
--------------
Strikes, Boycotts & Arrests Mark SF Hotel Dispute (http://www.beyondchron.org/news/index.php?itemid=7679#more)
Over 140 sit in protesters blocked the Hilton's
main entrance for several hours.
[Video: http://tinyurl.com/yhpsa45 ]
By Carl Finamore
Beyond Chron
January 6, 2010
The San Francisco Hilton is the city's largest, taking
up a square block of prime downtown real estate and
boasting 1900 rooms. Celebrity heiress Paris Hilton's
signature phrase, "That's Hot!" might very well apply
to the "stunning million dollar views" advertised by
her hotel namesake. But it's more like "That's Cold!"
when describing the views of the Hilton owners towards
their employees.
In fact, the Blackstone Group (http://www.blackstone.com/cps/rde/xchg/bxcom/hs/contactus.htm), which owns the Hilton
chain, proposes cutting starting wages for new hires by
25%. According to a union fact sheet, the CEO and part
owner of Blackstone was paid $1,385,391,042 in 2008 ...
That's right, one billion dollars plus. The average
union hotel worker earned $30,000 in that same year.
This explains why over 800 members of Local 2, UNITE-
HERE (http://www.unitehere.org/) and 400 supporters staged their impressive rally
and civil disobedience action blocking for several
hours the main hotel entrance before 140 sit-in
protesters were arrested, cited for misdemeanor
trespassing and released a short time later.
Arrestees included Richard Trumka, new President of the
13-million member AFL-CIO (http://www.aflcio.org/) and John Wilhelm,
International President of the 265,000-member UNITE-
HERE. Trumka called the attitude of the hotels a
"disgrace" while Wilhelm congratulated Local 2 for its
"heart, spirit and endurance" which he said "would
spread across the country in 2010" as other hotel
contracts expire.
The rally attracted city firefighters, nurses,
machinists, teachers, engineers, longshore, teamsters,
construction workers and letter carriers displaying
union emblems of support.
The protest also drew several hundred community
supporters organized by Rev. Israel Alvaran, assigned
by Clerics and Laity United for Economic Justice (http://www.clueca.org/) (CLUE)
to work exclusively on winning community support for
hotel workers.
Refusal to come to an agreement with the modest demands
of the union is producing growing public outrage
because hotels have been profitable the last few years.
In fact, according to PriceWaterhouseCoopers, profits
soared nationally to over $200 billion in the last
decade.
While each of the 61 city hotels has chosen to
negotiate separately with the union, the corporations
that run many of the largest hotels remain united in
demands to shift more health care costs to employees,
increase workloads and reduce staffing.
They have rejected Local 2's minimum one-year contract
proposal. In Hilton's case, the whole package would
cost just $550,000 this year or around a 1.5% increase
in labor costs.
"We've proposed the cheapest contract in the union's
history while the corporations continue to make
millions," said John Elrod, a bartender at the W Hotel.
"I think the hotel workers have sacrificed enough. It's
time the hotel corporations realize that we're not
going to give up."
So far, the union has called three brief strikes, five
boycotts, numerous "Sieges" of all-night picketing and
two peaceful civil disobedience actions resulting in
several hundred arrests.
Bargaining Prospects in 2010
Nonetheless, facing stiff resistance and a lull in the
tourist season, Local 2 realizes this dispute will not
be settled soon. These major international corporations
have enormous financial resources that allow them to
absorb indefinitely the costs of ordinary labor
disputes.
So, the union has adopted a variety of tactics looking
forward to mid-2010 when tourists begin flooding the
city. This influx provides an inviting audience for the
union's very effective protests at boycotted hotel
entrances with bullhorns blaring. "Years before, We
would Cower, Now We have Union Power!" and "Don't
Check-In, Check Out! This is Local 2! Boycott is what
we're all about!"
New negotiating allies are also in the wings as Wilhelm
mentioned. At the moment, 9000 hotel workers in San
Francisco and another 16,000 in Chicago and Los Angeles
are negotiating.
This bargaining leverage will soon substantially
increase later this year with the addition of units in
Toronto, Minneapolis, Vancouver, BC, Honolulu, Monterey
and Washington D.C. In total, over 50,000 Unite-Here
members in the hotel industry will be fighting for new
contracts in 2010.
In the meantime, Local 2 will be busy planning regular
street protests and considering more of their patented
surprise strikes while still vigorously enforcing their
boycotts.
The union has a history of mobilizing local broad
actions and UNITE-HERE nationally has recently adopted
very high standards for its boycotts. A most important
new feature is that a majority of union members are
urged to consider a boycott of their selected hotel
before one is announced.
As a result, all current Local 2 boycotts are worker-
initiated, minimizing employer attempts to divide
employees from boycotters.. There must also be a funded
staff and a clear program of active enforcement before
any boycott is launched.
This includes regularly scheduled pickets with amped-up
sound systems to remind guests there is an ongoing
labor dispute. It means organized visits to major
clients showing videos of protests and taped interviews
with disgruntled guests who endured the stress of
strikes, loud picketing and boycotts. It means
enlisting the national support of non-profit and
socially-conscious conventioneers to join the boycott.
One important endorsement occurred the day the Hilton
boycott was announced. Sarah Shaker, Executive Director
of the Instituto Laboral de la Raza (http://www.ilaboral.org/), issued this
January 5 statement, "It is very unfortunate that we
have to move our annual awards banquet. Normally, we
have over 1,000 people from all over the country attend
and we spend close to $100,000 with the Hilton's
banquet department. We now have changed our plans and
moved the Event to a solidly Union banquet hall, the
United Irish Cultural Center."
More of the same is sure to come. The SF Examiner
estimates the 53-day strike/lockout and two-year
boycott in 2004-2006 cost San Francisco hotels around
$100 million. Owners made it worse for themselves by
locking out workers during that strike, something that
turned out to be a major public relations blunder.
Enormous political and community pressure forced hotels
to back off, end their lock out and return to
negotiations. But the union still continued full-scale
boycotts until the hotels finally agreed in 2006 to all
the workers' demands.
Local 2 President Mike Casey considers this victory as
validation of the current strategy of staggered, brief
strikes, longer boycotts and regularly scheduled
mobilizations.
As a result, the union is determined to reinvigorate
boycotts as one of their tools, especially useful in an
industry dependent on delivering consumers comfort and
relaxation uninterrupted by clamorous rallies and
periodic strikes.
"We want to bring back boycotts that have the scale and
commitment of the Farmworkers' enormously successful
and historic Grape Boycott," UNITE-HERE boycott
organizer Mark Westerberg told me.
While Casey is quick to remind hotels that a city-wide
strike is never off the table, the union has shown it
has a formidable array of other tactics as well. All of
them will be necessary to pry open the pocket books of
the powerful owners.
Carl Finamore paid up all his parking tickets before
joining the Hilton sit-in. He is a delegate to the San
Francisco Labor Council (http://www.sflaborcouncil.org/)and former President (ret),
Local Lodge 1781, IAMAW (http://www.goiam.org/). He can be reached at
local1781(AT)yahoo.com ([email protected])
=========================================
Portside aims to provide material of interest
to people on the left that will help them to
interpret the world and to change it.
Strikes, Boycotts & Arrests Mark SF Hotel Dispute (http://www.beyondchron.org/news/index.php?itemid=7679#more)
Over 140 sit in protesters blocked the Hilton's
main entrance for several hours.
[Video: http://tinyurl.com/yhpsa45 ]
By Carl Finamore
Beyond Chron
January 6, 2010
The San Francisco Hilton is the city's largest, taking
up a square block of prime downtown real estate and
boasting 1900 rooms. Celebrity heiress Paris Hilton's
signature phrase, "That's Hot!" might very well apply
to the "stunning million dollar views" advertised by
her hotel namesake. But it's more like "That's Cold!"
when describing the views of the Hilton owners towards
their employees.
In fact, the Blackstone Group (http://www.blackstone.com/cps/rde/xchg/bxcom/hs/contactus.htm), which owns the Hilton
chain, proposes cutting starting wages for new hires by
25%. According to a union fact sheet, the CEO and part
owner of Blackstone was paid $1,385,391,042 in 2008 ...
That's right, one billion dollars plus. The average
union hotel worker earned $30,000 in that same year.
This explains why over 800 members of Local 2, UNITE-
HERE (http://www.unitehere.org/) and 400 supporters staged their impressive rally
and civil disobedience action blocking for several
hours the main hotel entrance before 140 sit-in
protesters were arrested, cited for misdemeanor
trespassing and released a short time later.
Arrestees included Richard Trumka, new President of the
13-million member AFL-CIO (http://www.aflcio.org/) and John Wilhelm,
International President of the 265,000-member UNITE-
HERE. Trumka called the attitude of the hotels a
"disgrace" while Wilhelm congratulated Local 2 for its
"heart, spirit and endurance" which he said "would
spread across the country in 2010" as other hotel
contracts expire.
The rally attracted city firefighters, nurses,
machinists, teachers, engineers, longshore, teamsters,
construction workers and letter carriers displaying
union emblems of support.
The protest also drew several hundred community
supporters organized by Rev. Israel Alvaran, assigned
by Clerics and Laity United for Economic Justice (http://www.clueca.org/) (CLUE)
to work exclusively on winning community support for
hotel workers.
Refusal to come to an agreement with the modest demands
of the union is producing growing public outrage
because hotels have been profitable the last few years.
In fact, according to PriceWaterhouseCoopers, profits
soared nationally to over $200 billion in the last
decade.
While each of the 61 city hotels has chosen to
negotiate separately with the union, the corporations
that run many of the largest hotels remain united in
demands to shift more health care costs to employees,
increase workloads and reduce staffing.
They have rejected Local 2's minimum one-year contract
proposal. In Hilton's case, the whole package would
cost just $550,000 this year or around a 1.5% increase
in labor costs.
"We've proposed the cheapest contract in the union's
history while the corporations continue to make
millions," said John Elrod, a bartender at the W Hotel.
"I think the hotel workers have sacrificed enough. It's
time the hotel corporations realize that we're not
going to give up."
So far, the union has called three brief strikes, five
boycotts, numerous "Sieges" of all-night picketing and
two peaceful civil disobedience actions resulting in
several hundred arrests.
Bargaining Prospects in 2010
Nonetheless, facing stiff resistance and a lull in the
tourist season, Local 2 realizes this dispute will not
be settled soon. These major international corporations
have enormous financial resources that allow them to
absorb indefinitely the costs of ordinary labor
disputes.
So, the union has adopted a variety of tactics looking
forward to mid-2010 when tourists begin flooding the
city. This influx provides an inviting audience for the
union's very effective protests at boycotted hotel
entrances with bullhorns blaring. "Years before, We
would Cower, Now We have Union Power!" and "Don't
Check-In, Check Out! This is Local 2! Boycott is what
we're all about!"
New negotiating allies are also in the wings as Wilhelm
mentioned. At the moment, 9000 hotel workers in San
Francisco and another 16,000 in Chicago and Los Angeles
are negotiating.
This bargaining leverage will soon substantially
increase later this year with the addition of units in
Toronto, Minneapolis, Vancouver, BC, Honolulu, Monterey
and Washington D.C. In total, over 50,000 Unite-Here
members in the hotel industry will be fighting for new
contracts in 2010.
In the meantime, Local 2 will be busy planning regular
street protests and considering more of their patented
surprise strikes while still vigorously enforcing their
boycotts.
The union has a history of mobilizing local broad
actions and UNITE-HERE nationally has recently adopted
very high standards for its boycotts. A most important
new feature is that a majority of union members are
urged to consider a boycott of their selected hotel
before one is announced.
As a result, all current Local 2 boycotts are worker-
initiated, minimizing employer attempts to divide
employees from boycotters.. There must also be a funded
staff and a clear program of active enforcement before
any boycott is launched.
This includes regularly scheduled pickets with amped-up
sound systems to remind guests there is an ongoing
labor dispute. It means organized visits to major
clients showing videos of protests and taped interviews
with disgruntled guests who endured the stress of
strikes, loud picketing and boycotts. It means
enlisting the national support of non-profit and
socially-conscious conventioneers to join the boycott.
One important endorsement occurred the day the Hilton
boycott was announced. Sarah Shaker, Executive Director
of the Instituto Laboral de la Raza (http://www.ilaboral.org/), issued this
January 5 statement, "It is very unfortunate that we
have to move our annual awards banquet. Normally, we
have over 1,000 people from all over the country attend
and we spend close to $100,000 with the Hilton's
banquet department. We now have changed our plans and
moved the Event to a solidly Union banquet hall, the
United Irish Cultural Center."
More of the same is sure to come. The SF Examiner
estimates the 53-day strike/lockout and two-year
boycott in 2004-2006 cost San Francisco hotels around
$100 million. Owners made it worse for themselves by
locking out workers during that strike, something that
turned out to be a major public relations blunder.
Enormous political and community pressure forced hotels
to back off, end their lock out and return to
negotiations. But the union still continued full-scale
boycotts until the hotels finally agreed in 2006 to all
the workers' demands.
Local 2 President Mike Casey considers this victory as
validation of the current strategy of staggered, brief
strikes, longer boycotts and regularly scheduled
mobilizations.
As a result, the union is determined to reinvigorate
boycotts as one of their tools, especially useful in an
industry dependent on delivering consumers comfort and
relaxation uninterrupted by clamorous rallies and
periodic strikes.
"We want to bring back boycotts that have the scale and
commitment of the Farmworkers' enormously successful
and historic Grape Boycott," UNITE-HERE boycott
organizer Mark Westerberg told me.
While Casey is quick to remind hotels that a city-wide
strike is never off the table, the union has shown it
has a formidable array of other tactics as well. All of
them will be necessary to pry open the pocket books of
the powerful owners.
Carl Finamore paid up all his parking tickets before
joining the Hilton sit-in. He is a delegate to the San
Francisco Labor Council (http://www.sflaborcouncil.org/)and former President (ret),
Local Lodge 1781, IAMAW (http://www.goiam.org/). He can be reached at
local1781(AT)yahoo.com ([email protected])
=========================================
Portside aims to provide material of interest
to people on the left that will help them to
interpret the world and to change it.