UNITE HERE! Hotel Strike Will Unleash Perfect StormRandy Shawbyline‚ Aug. 28‚ 2006Either out of arrogance, ignorance or both, San Francisco’s global hotels are seeking to provoke a hotel strike. Local managers employed by the Multi-Employer Group (MEG) of 13 hotels are powerless in the dispute, as decisions are being made at the international corporate headquarters. The legal arrangement among the MEG allows a single hotel to hold up a settlement, which means that the most anti-union stance dictates bargaining for all 13. A hotel strike would unify San Francisco's social and political forces as never before, as many activists would be thrilled to have a local target for their frustrations over Bush Administration economic policies. San Francisco is the wrong city for global hotel forces to wage a pitched battle over the right to overwork maids, and to impose a two-tier health care system. If there is going to be a national battle over the right of working people to earn middle-class wages and benefits, UNITEHERE! Local 2 could not pick a better place to start than San Francisco. |