Pelosi Urges End to Hotel Lockout and Settlement of Contract Dispute
Pelosi Urges End to Hotel Lockout and Settlement of Contract Dispute
November 10, 2004
San Francisco - House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi sent the following letter to the leadership of the Hotel Multi-Employer Group and the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union (HERE) Local 2 urging that management end the lockout of hotel workers and that both parties resolve the contract dispute:
Mr. Mike Casey, President
Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union (HERE) Local 2
209 Golden Gate Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94102
Mr. Mark Huntley, President
San Francisco Multi-Employer Group
c/o the Fairmont San Francisco
950 Mason Street
San Francisco, CA 94108
Dear Mr. Casey and Mr. Huntley,
San Francisco is the most beautiful city in the world, and the impeccable service provided at its many hotels make our city a vacation and tourist destination. San Francisco also has a long history of organized labor negotiating good wages and working conditions for workers and their families.
More than a month has passed, and this lock-out has begun to tarnish San Francisco's reputation as a national leader for strong working relationships between labor and management. It is time for the Multi-Employer Group to end the lock-out, and for the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union (HERE) and the Multi-Employer Group to come together and settle a contract for the good of San Francisco. Continuation will only serve to harm San Francisco's hotel workers and their families and the San Francisco hotel industry. It will further damage San Francisco's standing as a top destination for tourism and conventions and slow the City's economic recovery. I know that you are well aware of the national implications of prolonging the lock-out, and I urge you to not allow San Francisco hotels to become a harbinger of a nationwide hotel labor dispute.
I am committed to helping San Francisco hotel management and labor in anyway possible. I urge you to exercise the strong and wise leadership you have demonstrated in the past to find agreement on outstanding issues, and to show the rest of the country that San Francisco hotel labor and management are committed to negotiating a fair and equitable contract.
Thank you for your consideration of this request for action.
Sincerely,
NANCY PELOSI
House Democratic Leader