Hotel workers in Los Angeles and two other cities intent on a key contract goal are taking an unusual approach to reach it: not going on strike.

Unite Here locals in L.A., San Francisco and Washington want two-year contracts that would expire at the same time as those in several other cities around the country, giving the union nationwide bargaining clout against giant hotel chains.

Instead of striking if they don't get two-year deals, union members may simply work without contracts until 2006 - getting what they want, they hope, by default.

When their contracts expired this year, the union locals made extensive plans for possible walkouts while garnering logistical and community support. The San Francisco local actually did launch a limited, two-week strike against four hotels in October, and that was greeted with a five-week lockout of 4,000 union employees by those four venues and 10 others in their bargaining group.

Indeed, any wait-it-out, no-strike tack may well force the hotels to consider locking out union workers. Hotels in all three cities have said they won't allow the union to reach its 2006 goal through the back door.

"If that appears to be the union's strategy, it would not be acceptable and they would have to consider a lockout," said Lisa van Krieken, an attorney who represents the nine-member Los Angeles Hotel Employers Council. "If it becomes clear that the union has no intention of reaching an agreement, the hotels will have to talk about" a possible lockout.

Harley Shaiken, a professor of social and cultural studies at UC Berkeley who specializes in labor issues, said both sides were in "uncharted territory."

"It puts the hotels in a tough position," he said. "They don't want a long, lingering labor dispute on their hands, and every month that passes brings the union closer to 2006."

Maria Elena Durazo, president of Local 11 in Los Angeles, said the union didn't intend to drag out negotiations. But she said a walkout - which members have already authorized - would harm union members more than the hotels.

"This is not the time to try to get the most out of a strike," Durazo said.

The union is using other tactics, including periodic picketing and demonstrations, and calling for a boycott of the hotels, as it works to garner political and community support.

"It keeps coming back to the question of where and how we get the leverage to deal with these national chains," Durazo said. "Whether they sign an agreement today or next year or the following year, they will not be able to stop us from taking a national approach to the issues in our industry."

Carl Winston, a veteran hotel executive and director of the hospitality and tourism management program at San Diego State University, said the union had been forced to realize that a strike would have limited effect, particularly in Los Angeles, which has few union hotels compared with some other cities.

If the union can align contract expirations, "they would have more leverage," Winston said. "But a lockout would probably work. The hotel companies don't want this to happen, but they also see it as one more business matter that they have to deal with."

About 3,000 workers are affected by negotiations with the nine Los Angeles hotels, which include the Sheraton Universal, Westin Bonaventure, Westin Century Plaza, Hyatt Regency Los Angeles, Hyatt West Hollywood, Millennium Biltmore, Regent Beverly Wilshire, St. Regis and Wilshire Grand. The St. Regis is being sold, eliminating 208 union jobs.

Part of Durazo's hesitation to strike dates to lessons learned in San Francisco, where Unite Here Local 2 launched its limited walkout against four hotels in October. That was promptly greeted with a five-week lockout of 4,000 union employees by those four venues and 10 others in their bargaining group.

The lockout ended Nov. 23, after the union won the right to unemployment benefits. The hotels lost some guests, but their ability to quickly draw replacement workers from around the country was a statement that was impossible to ignore.

The San Francisco experience clearly demonstrated the strength of the resources the hotels have at their disposal, Durazo said. "They had the ability overnight to tap a workforce that was way beyond San Francisco. It reinforced what we have been saying all along in terms of what we are up against."

Local 2 President Mike Casey said another strike was unlikely in the city by the bay. Both sides are under a cooling off period urged by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom.

In all three cities, labor and management remain far apart on issues such as healthcare costs, paid sick leave and workloads.

Casey said his local couldn't count on getting to 2006 by default, even though he sees little movement from the hotels.

"You can't really plan that kind of approach," Casey said. "I don't think that's a strategy…. That may well be the outcome, but it's certainly not by design."

San Francisco - the sole city among the three to have a strike and full-scale lockout - may again see a return of heightened tensions if there's no breakthrough.

Matt Adams, vice president and managing director of the Hyatt Regency San Francisco and a principal spokesman for the 14-hotel bargaining group, said he expected to be close to signing a contract by the end of the cooling off period next month.

Adams said the hotels agreed to end the lockout in part after assurances that the union would not be engaging in delay tactics.

"We are taking them with all good faith that they are being honest and really negotiating," Adams said. "At the end of the cooling off period, if they have proven to not be forthright, we will present this to the mayor and to the union."

Little progress has been made in Washington, where hotels enjoy a steady stream of strong business. Next up in that city are preparations for President Bush's second inaugural celebration.

But the Washington hotels may still consider taking action to avoid a 2006 expiration by default.

"That scenario does look possible," said Lynn Lawson, a spokeswoman for the 14-hotel bargaining group in Washington in talks with the 3,800-member Unite Here Local 25. Lawson said the two sides met just three times in October and once in November, with only one meeting scheduled for December.

"We're extremely hopeful that the next session shows some progress," she said.

In Los Angeles, talks are set to resume Dec. 13 and 14.

"Business wise, the hotels are doing fine," said Van Krieken of the Los Angeles hotel group. "But we don't want these negotiations to drag on forever."

Los Angeles union leader Durazo said she wasn't optimistic about the upcoming negotiations. She added that the local wouldn't be forced into signing a contract to protect jobs.

"They have to come face to face with the fact that we are now going in the direction of acting like a national organization," Durazo said. "We're going to get there one way or another."

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