A tentative agreement has been reached to end a two-month-long strike by nearly 2,500 hotel workers at seven San Francisco Marriott hotels, the union representing the employees says.þþIf approved in a ratification vote Monday, the deal would end a walkout by housekeepers, bartenders, bellmen and others represented by Unite Here Local 2 that began Oct. 4.þþLocal 2 officials says the deal, which was reached Sunday night after a round of weekend talks, includes ÿlife-changingÿ wage standards, improved job security protections and affordable health care coverage.þþÿThis hard-fought contract sets a new and transformative standard for San Francisco's hotel industry,ÿ said Unite Here Local 2 President Anand Singh.þþÿDuring more than two months on strike, hotel workers' resolve never wavered and neither did the support and solidarity in our community. Now it's time for ever hotel to follow Marriott's lead,ÿ Singh said.þþIn a brief statement, Marriott confirmed that it had reached a tentative agreement and that ÿwe look forward to welcoming our associates back to work.ÿþþThe 60-day strike rallied the region's labor movement. The union received support from Mayor London Breed and several members of the Board of Supervisors, which held a special meeting in early November to hear the workers' stories.þþSupervisor Hillary Ronen applauded the deal Monday.þþÿThis was a really important fight for the future of San Francisco and I'm delighted that the parties have reached a settlement,ÿ Ronen said in a text message through her spokeswoman, Carolyn Goosen.þþThe company said during the walkout that it was disappointed its workers chose to strike and emphasized that the seven hotels would keep operating. Days before the supervisors' hearing, Marriott CEO Arne Sorensen criticized Unite Here, claiming it was more interested in coordinating a national labor labor action instead of settling local contract issues at the bargaining table.þþWalkouts by Unite Here in San Jose, Oakland and other cities around the country ended in recent weeks while the San Francisco picketing continued.þþThe tentative agreement ends strikes at the Courtyard by Marriott Downtown, the Marriott Marquis, the Marriott Union Square, the Palace Hotel, the St. Regis, the W and the Westin St. Francis.þþThe strike not only made life inconvenient for some Marriott guests but it also led some organizations to postpone events at the company's hotels.þþSeveral workers hired to replace hotel employees. who walked off the job in San Francisco, filed wage theft claims with state workplace regulators that the company that hired them neglected to pay them thousands of dollars.þþThe strike represents the largest hotel labor dispute in San Francisco since workers were locked out of more than dozen hotels in 2004, part of a weeks-long conflict that at one point, involved then-Mayor Gavin Newsom briefly joining a picket line.
Source: www.kqed.org
