Hotel labor union launches publicity campaign

By Deena Beasley

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The union representing 95,000 North American hotel workers, including 60,000 with contracts expiring this year, on Wednesday launched a campaign to raise awareness of the need for more union representation in the industry.

"Our goal is to challenge the industry ... to make middle-class jobs out of service sector jobs. Jobs that can't be moved overseas," John Wilhelm, head of the Unite Here union's hospitality division, said at the Reuters Hotels and Casinos Summit held in Los Angeles.

Unite Here has enlisted the help of Senator John Edwards, actor Danny Glover, and other activists in its "Hotel Workers Rising" campaign.

The roadshow kicks off today with a rally in San Francisco, followed by events in Los Angeles on Thursday, Chicago on Friday and Boston on Saturday.

Hotel labor contracts are slated to expire in several major cities this year, including New York, Honolulu, Boston and Los Angeles.

The contract at 14 hotels in San Francisco expired in September 2004, and the two sides have yet to hammer out a new deal amid an acrimonious battle that has seen workers go on strike, and then get locked out.

"The average nonunion hotel workers in North America makes $7 to $8 an hour. The average union worker makes $15 an hour," Wilhelm said.