A major Los Angeles hotel locked out laundry workers yesterday in a move the general manager said could lead to a strike by union employees which, in turn, could spur action in two other major U.S. cities.

John Stoddard, general manager of the Wilshire Grand hotel, said he locked out Local 52 laundry workers at 6 a.m., hours after their contract expired. His move comes as hotel owners and workers face a breakdown in contract talks over union demands for a two-year pact that operators reject.

Similar demands by locals of an affiliated union, Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees, or HERE, in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., have those cities near strikes, union leaders say.

Stoddard said the Wilshire Grand's laundry lockout could tip the scales for action by HERE in Los Angeles.

"If they have a strong support from their membership, I would expect they (HERE) would strike us in support of their sister union," Stoddard said.

The laundry workers are part of the UNITE union which recently merged with HERE, creating a complex system of union loyalties because if HERE backs UNITE in Los Angeles, then union officials say it could spur a larger call for actions in Washington and San Francisco, where talks between HERE locals and hotels are near standstills.

About 10,000 HERE members in the three cities work for hotels involved in contract talks, including nine properties in Los Angeles and 14 each in San Francisco and Washington.

Los Angeles Local 11 spokeswoman Hilda Delgado said HERE was considering what to do.

The Wilshire Grand and eight other local hotels have agreed to lock out HERE workers at all properties if any is struck, but Stoddard said it was not clear if the mutual aid pact applied to a situation spurred by the laundry dispute.

A spokesman for the council of nine hotels, including properties managed by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. and Hyatt Hotels, said the council was discussing the matter.

Hotel negotiators in Washington walked out of talks Wednesday, the union said. Hotels in San Francisco also said yesterday that they would offer no more concessions unless HERE Local 2 agreed to a long-term contract.

A Local 2 spokeswoman said the union was looking at the most recent hotel proposal and talks had not broken down.

HERE locals in all three cities want two-year contracts that would expire in 2006, in tandem with seven other major deals, putting the union in a better position to negotiate some matters on a national basis with hotel chains.

The locals are coordinating with each other, although they have not promised to follow each other into strikes.

Stoddard said the laundry workers had also insisted on a two-year deal, leading him to lock them out. Stoddard had backed a Los Angeles lockout of HERE in mid-August but a federal mediator agreed to join talks and the hotels relented.

Separately, workers at Starwood-managed St. Regis and Century City hotels sued Starwood in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging the hotels had made employees work through breaks.

A Starwood spokeswoman said she had not seen the suit and declined to comment.

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