September 2, 2010
The Hotel Council of San Francisco today announced its disappointment in UNITE HERE Local 2’s continued attempts to discourage business from coming to San Francisco to the detriment of its members and the economic recovery of San Francisco.
UNITE HERE Local 2, the labor union representing hotel workers, has dispensed a year of counter-productive activities after its members’ contracts ended in August 2009. Instead of focusing attention on talks at the bargaining table with hotel management to negotiate fair contracts, union leadership has organized protests and strikes that have cost San Francisco millions in lost business. This week, the group has planned two additional protests at the San Francisco Hyatt Regency and Burlingame Regency Hotel on Thursday, September 2.
“San Francisco hotels continue to encourage Local 2 leadership to come to the negotiating table, instead of wasting their members’ precious time at the picket line,” said Patricia Breslin, Executive Director of the Hotel Council of San Francisco. “These illogical protests work against the common objective of finalizing contracts for hotel workers and getting San Francisco out of this economic slowdown.”
Local 2’s leaders have issued calls for convention planners to boycott San Francisco , to cancel their plans to hold large events here, and to prevent the planning of future events. Because major conventions need to plan a year or more in advance – and usually alternate their location between East and West coasts – this boycott could have the effect of costing San Francisco three or four years’ worth of convention business.
“No one can afford more hotel protests – not our employees, our guests, our industry, or our City” continued Breslin.
According to the Convention and Visitors Bureau, 10 conventions and meetings have either canceled or opted not to come to San Francisco this year, citing labor issues as one of the reasons. This loss of events has cost the City more than $8 million in hotel rooms, transportation, retail sales and visitor attractions.
When visitors come to San Francisco, only 30 cents of every tourism dollar is spent in hotels; the other 70 cents supports taxi drivers, servers at restaurants and bars, tour guides, and unionized convention center workers.
The actions orchestrated by Local 2’s leaders have been costly to thousands of San Francisco workers in the tourism industry and they have been a direct drain on the city’s already depleted coffers.
”Now is the time for productive contract talks for the benefit of all parties involved.” Breslin concluded.
