G
Guest
Guest
I know many people thought the mayor of SF suspect when he allowed same-sex marriages and went against the state over it, but I love the man. He's an amazingly activist mayor, really gets 'out there' and works. This blew me away, and I just want more people to know about him. (In case it does not come to mind, these hotel workers are mostly Mexican and other Latinos.) - Perdita
Newsom threatens to picket hotels - Steve Rubenstein, George Raine, SF Chron, October 26, 2004
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom threatened Monday to join hotel workers on their picket lines today unless hotel owners end a four-week lockout and allow employees to return to their jobs for a 90-day cooling-off period. Newsom gave the owners of 14 hotels until 2 p.m. today to respond to his request. If they refuse to go along with the cooling-off period, the mayor said he will seek to have the city stop doing business with the hotels and call for a public boycott. "I will do everything in my power to see to it that the city and county of San Francisco does not do business with those hotels, and I will extend that in multiple ways because I am very intense about this,'' Newsom said. "We have people who are suffering out on the streets, and in turn the image of the city is suffering.
"You will see me take actions to represent my disappointment not just in the proceeding days and months but years. Even when the strike ends (the hotel owners) will have sent the message that San Francisco is dispensable as a city and its employees can be used as pawns, and I will not forget that and I will act accordingly." Mayoral spokesman Peter Ragone said the mayor could join pickets as early as this afternoon.
The union representing 4,000 locked-out hotel workers -- cooks, room cleaners, bartenders, bellmen, servers and others -- said they are willing to return to work for a 90-day cooling-off period. Representatives of the 14 hotels involved in the labor dispute said they would give the mayor an answer by his deadline. "We understand the mayor feels strong about this,'' said Barbara French, a spokeswoman for the hotels. "We have his request under advisement.''
Newsom proposed the cooling-off period in a letter Sunday to Mike Casey, president of Local 2 of the hotel workers union, Unite Here; and to Mark Huntley, president of a group of 14 San Francisco hotels that is negotiating labor contracts, the Multi-Employer Group. The two are locked in a tense labor dispute that led to a two-week strike against four of the hotels that began Sept. 29 and to the eventual lockout of the employees of all 14 hotels -- more than 4,000 in all. Contract negotiations have been fruitless. Newsom initially called for a cooling-off period earlier this month, but that request was rejected by hotel owners who said they would allow workers back only if the union agreed to drop its demand for a two-year contract. A two-year contract would expire at the same time as contracts for hotel workers in other major cities, giving the San Francisco union more leverage in future negotiations. The hotel owners want a five-year contract.
Another of the contentious issues in the dispute revolves around health care benefits. The hotels want workers to pay more for health insurance. For the past 20 years, hotel workers have paid $10 per month toward their health insurance. Hotels want workers to pay $32.53 a month in the first year, rising each year to $273.42 per month in the fifth year.
...
The dispute has already caused the organizers of one major convention to consider moving elsewhere. More than 5,000 delegates of the American Anthropological Association scheduled to meet Nov. 17-21 at the San Francisco Hilton might instead meet in Atlanta. Organizers of the convention said Monday they want to learn the response to Newsom's request. The Hilton is one of the four hotels where workers struck on Sept. 29 and one of the 14 where the lockout continues.
...
Ultimately, Newsom's authority in the matter is limited to his power of persuasion and the prestige of his office, but San Francisco's losses could be considerable in a prolonged labor dispute. The cancellation of major conventions -- and the subsequent loss of tourist dollars -- is still possible.
The American Anthropological Association made reservations for its 2004 annual meeting at the Hilton eight years ago, said Elizabeth Brumfiel, the association president and professor of anthropology at Northwestern University. On Friday, she and the group's executive board sent an e-mail to members saying that, because of the labor dispute, the board had voted to move the meeting from San Francisco to the Atlanta Hilton, Dec. 15-19.
On learning Monday morning of Newsom's overture, the group suspended those plans pending the response from both the union and the hotels, said Brumfiel. Monday, she e-mailed members telling not to cancel or make new reservations until it's decided where to hold the meeting. The group sides ideologically with the union, and Brumfiel has written that "anthropologists cannot, in all good conscience, meet in facilities whose owners are using the lockout of low-wage workers as a bargaining tactic.''
...
By calculations of the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau, the 5, 000-plus anthropologists would probably spend $3,093,750 in the city.
full article
Newsom threatens to picket hotels - Steve Rubenstein, George Raine, SF Chron, October 26, 2004
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom threatened Monday to join hotel workers on their picket lines today unless hotel owners end a four-week lockout and allow employees to return to their jobs for a 90-day cooling-off period. Newsom gave the owners of 14 hotels until 2 p.m. today to respond to his request. If they refuse to go along with the cooling-off period, the mayor said he will seek to have the city stop doing business with the hotels and call for a public boycott. "I will do everything in my power to see to it that the city and county of San Francisco does not do business with those hotels, and I will extend that in multiple ways because I am very intense about this,'' Newsom said. "We have people who are suffering out on the streets, and in turn the image of the city is suffering.
"You will see me take actions to represent my disappointment not just in the proceeding days and months but years. Even when the strike ends (the hotel owners) will have sent the message that San Francisco is dispensable as a city and its employees can be used as pawns, and I will not forget that and I will act accordingly." Mayoral spokesman Peter Ragone said the mayor could join pickets as early as this afternoon.
The union representing 4,000 locked-out hotel workers -- cooks, room cleaners, bartenders, bellmen, servers and others -- said they are willing to return to work for a 90-day cooling-off period. Representatives of the 14 hotels involved in the labor dispute said they would give the mayor an answer by his deadline. "We understand the mayor feels strong about this,'' said Barbara French, a spokeswoman for the hotels. "We have his request under advisement.''
Newsom proposed the cooling-off period in a letter Sunday to Mike Casey, president of Local 2 of the hotel workers union, Unite Here; and to Mark Huntley, president of a group of 14 San Francisco hotels that is negotiating labor contracts, the Multi-Employer Group. The two are locked in a tense labor dispute that led to a two-week strike against four of the hotels that began Sept. 29 and to the eventual lockout of the employees of all 14 hotels -- more than 4,000 in all. Contract negotiations have been fruitless. Newsom initially called for a cooling-off period earlier this month, but that request was rejected by hotel owners who said they would allow workers back only if the union agreed to drop its demand for a two-year contract. A two-year contract would expire at the same time as contracts for hotel workers in other major cities, giving the San Francisco union more leverage in future negotiations. The hotel owners want a five-year contract.
Another of the contentious issues in the dispute revolves around health care benefits. The hotels want workers to pay more for health insurance. For the past 20 years, hotel workers have paid $10 per month toward their health insurance. Hotels want workers to pay $32.53 a month in the first year, rising each year to $273.42 per month in the fifth year.
...
The dispute has already caused the organizers of one major convention to consider moving elsewhere. More than 5,000 delegates of the American Anthropological Association scheduled to meet Nov. 17-21 at the San Francisco Hilton might instead meet in Atlanta. Organizers of the convention said Monday they want to learn the response to Newsom's request. The Hilton is one of the four hotels where workers struck on Sept. 29 and one of the 14 where the lockout continues.
...
Ultimately, Newsom's authority in the matter is limited to his power of persuasion and the prestige of his office, but San Francisco's losses could be considerable in a prolonged labor dispute. The cancellation of major conventions -- and the subsequent loss of tourist dollars -- is still possible.
The American Anthropological Association made reservations for its 2004 annual meeting at the Hilton eight years ago, said Elizabeth Brumfiel, the association president and professor of anthropology at Northwestern University. On Friday, she and the group's executive board sent an e-mail to members saying that, because of the labor dispute, the board had voted to move the meeting from San Francisco to the Atlanta Hilton, Dec. 15-19.
On learning Monday morning of Newsom's overture, the group suspended those plans pending the response from both the union and the hotels, said Brumfiel. Monday, she e-mailed members telling not to cancel or make new reservations until it's decided where to hold the meeting. The group sides ideologically with the union, and Brumfiel has written that "anthropologists cannot, in all good conscience, meet in facilities whose owners are using the lockout of low-wage workers as a bargaining tactic.''
...
By calculations of the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau, the 5, 000-plus anthropologists would probably spend $3,093,750 in the city.
full article
