Hotel Dispute Gets a Break

San Francisco’s unionized hotel workers will go back to work after an eight-week lockout, dealing a major boost to the city’s tourism industry on the eve of the busy holiday season, Mayor Gavin Newsom announced Saturday.

He said the group representing 14 luxury hotels has agreed to end the lockout of union workers for 60 days. “I think they came to recognize the damage this would have long-term if it had continued through the holidays,” he said.

The union, meanwhile, has agreed not to strike and will end its picketing outside the hotels.

About 4,000 room cleaners, bellmen, cooks and other hourly wage earners who have been out of work since late September will return to their jobs beginning Tuesday night as contract negotiations continue.

“All this time we’ve been outside, it’s been kind of a hassle,” said Milton Gomez, 40, a cook at the Four Seasons hotel. “We’ve been having bad days and good days, but our momentum is with us, and we can feel that.”

The union representing the workers began a two-week strike against four hotels Sept. 29. The hotel operators promptly locked out all workers from the 14 hotels involved in the negotiations.

The dispute escalated Oct. 26, when the hotel operators refused a request from Newsom to allow the employees to return to work during negotiations. Newsom then joined the union’s picket lines.

On Saturday, Newsom stood with representatives of the hotels, a union leader and about 50 beaming union workers during a late-morning news conference at City Hall.

He said the poor publicity generated by the strike and the union’s ability to extend healthcare coverage while workers remained locked out were key factors in the hotel operators’ change of heart.

“They did the right thing,” the mayor said.

“I recognize it was a difficult decision for them.”

The hotel operators also agreed to continue paying their share of the workers’ health insurance premiums through December. The payments were scheduled to expire Dec. 1.

Most employees covered by the contract that expired in August earn $9 to $15 an hour, with cooks making up to $20 an hour.