San Francisco -- One the longest, most bitter labor disputes in recent hospitality history apparently ended last night when hoteliers and the union representing hotel workers here agreed on a new contract.
The tentative agreement, combined with new agreements in Chicago, improves the chances that meeting planners and their attendees will enjoy an autumn of labor calm in other cities where negotiations now continue. The agreements intensify the pressure on hoteliers in Toronto, Honolulu, Monterey, Calif., and Starwood hotels in Chicago to settle with the union.
The agreement between Unite Here and the San Francisco Multi-Employer Group (SFMEG), which represents 13 major hotels here, is expected to serve as a model for contracts with the other hotels in the city.
Some 9,000 union members at more than 60 hotels have been working without contracts, the vast majority of them since August 2004. The five-year contract is retroactive to the previous contract expiration date.
In announcing the agreement today, SFMEG President Steve Trent called the pact "one of the best contracts in the industry."
"Both parties worked very hard to secure a fair agreement that provides our employees with economic security and stability," Trent said.
"We are delighted with this great agreement,'' said Mike Casey, president of Unite Here Local 2.
In addition to winning wage and benefit increases for workers, the union apparently prevailed on two major issues, which strengthen Unite Here nationally. Unite Here represents approximately 100,000 hotel workers in the United States and Canada.
First, the contract expires in 2009, which coincides with contract expirations in Chicago, thus giving the union more leverage with the big hotel chains in negotiating the next contract. SFMEG wanted a contract that expired in 2011, according to a union spokeswoman. Union locals in other cities where contracts expire this year are also seeking 2009 expiration dates for new contracts.
Second, the agreement substantially increases the union's ability to organize workers at non-union hotels, without interference from employers. Under a system known as card-check neutrality, workers can sign cards favoring unionization rather than vote by secret ballot in elections conducted by the National Labor Relations Board--a much longer process and one in which employers can lobby employees to vote against unionization.
Hilton Hotels and Global Hyatt Corp. agreed to card-check neutrality for their Chicago hotels in the contracts they negotiated with Unite Here in that city over the past month. Five hotels in Chicago affiliated with Starwood brands have yet to reach a deal with the union.
Although the hotels that agreed to new contracts in Chicago and San Francisco are already unionized, the hotel companies managing those hotels additionally agreed to abide by card-check neutrality at any local hotels they may subsequently manage or purchase.
Workers at the 13 San Francisco hotels represented by SFMEG are expected to ratify the contract. A vote is scheduled for Sept. 22.
The bitter dispute in San Francisco was marked by a strike, lock-out, intermittent picketing, a recent rally in which 62 people were arrested, and a boycott in which union representatives warned meeting planners about potential labor unrest at hotels during their events. The labor strife cost San Francisco more than $51 million in lost meetings business, according to the city's convention bureau.