UAW May Be Target of Pickets for Booking Non-Union Hotels

San Diego labor leaders reportedly have pledged to picket three non-union hotels here, where United Auto Workers delegates will be staying during the organization’s convention in June.

Hotel and Restaurant Union Local 30 business manager Nancy Browning on Wednesday told the Detroit News that the UAW’s decision to book some of its delegates into non-union hotels was “hypocritical” given the UAW’s attempts to get Americans to buy union-made domestic cars and trucks.

A UAW spokesman in Detroit declined Wednesday to comment on the union’s hotel selection.

Browning and other Local 30 officials in San Diego were not available for comment Wednesday, but Joe Francis, executive secretary of the San Diego Labor Council, said visiting unions typically check with local labor leaders before booking rooms in San Diego.

San Diego labor leaders regularly send visiting unions a list of hotels where workers are union-represented, Francis said. “That’s something we always do when traveling,” Francis said. “I usually request a copy of (a hotel’s union) agreement so I can ascertain if they’re a union house.”

Local 30 reportedly intends to post pickets at the San Diego Princess Resort, the Town & Country Hotel and the Sheraton Harbor Island, three hotels that state labor leaders have targeted for alleged anti-union stances.

An estimated 8,000 delegates, family and friends will be in town for the UAW’s annual convention.