A group of USC students gathered Thursday afternoon at the School of Social Work to show support for hotel workers and demand hotels negotiate fairly with their employees, who have been working without a contract for more than six months.

The event was sponsored by the Social Action Caucus, a new campus organization that addresses current events and provides a forum for discussion and activism. Speakers included current USC graduate student Stacey Zackin and Maya Anderson, a representative from the union UNITE HERE Local 11.

Since September, undergraduate students have been involved with UNITE HERE in the hotel workers' campaign. But the Social Action Caucus brings graduate students into the fight for hotel workers' rights.

About 10 students attended Thursday's meeting.

"USC students have the opportunity to play a strategic role in this fight," Anderson said.

Namely, students are becoming involved in a major contract fight related to USC at the Wilshire Grand Hotel.

Yang-Ho Cho, a member of the USC board of trustees, is also the CEO of Korean Air and owns the Wilshire Grand. Since Cho is affiliated with the university, Anderson encouraged the students to put pressure on the trustee.

As an influential man, Cho could be instrumental in prompting negotiation with the hotel workers, Anderson said.

UNITE HERE has already formed relationships with other progressive undergraduate student organizations, including USC College Democrats.

Various organizations and individual USC students have signed a boycott pledge that states that they will not "eat or sleep at any of these hotels until the workers of the Employers Council hotels have achieved a fair and just contract."

The official boycott of eight luxury hotels includes the Century Plaza Hotel, the Regent Beverly Wilshire, the Wilshire Grand, the Westin Bonaventure, the Millennium Biltmore, the Sheraton Universal, the Hyatt West Hollywood and the Hyatt Regency Los Angeles.

Also, since September students have turned out to attend community meetings and have been instrumental in bringing other organizations on board, Anderson said.

"Students are excited about the idea of building a progressive student organization on campus that supports labor," she said.

Zackin also gave a presentation in which she discussed her graduate internship with the Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice. Her job allows her to "respond to the crisis of the working poor."

CLUE's interest in the plight of the hotel workers lies in its overwhelming concern for economic justice. As a third party, the organization supports the hotel workers in their fight for fair negotiations with the hotels.

"As of Feb. 15, 3,000 housekeepers, bellmen, servers, cooks and other hotel workers have been working without a contract for six months. This means no benefits, no security and no voice to affect change," Zackin wrote in an e-mail.

Since the hotel workers' contract expired on April 15, 2004, hotels have refused to meet the recent demands of their employees and are currently operating without a union contract, Anderson said.

Although hotel workers have been explicit in their demands, in many instances the hotels refuse these requests because they are not in their best interest of the corporation, labor officials said.

For example, the L.A. hotel workers want a new contract with a 2006 expiration date. This particular date is important because it would coincide with seven other cities that also have contracts expiring in 2006, Anderson said.

"In an attempt to bargain on equal footing with these billion-dollar conglomerates, the workers need a contract that ends at the same time as contracts across the country, so that they can negotiate nationally. The hotels want to keep the workers separate and vulnerable. They feel if they can divide, they can conquer," Zackin wrote.

If the hotels do not negotiate acceptable terms with their employees in 2006, the hotel workers could potentially collectively strike across the nation.

Health care has also been an issue for the hotel workers. Although in the past the hotels have provided free family coverage for its employees, over the summer the hotels began implementing a fee of $40 per month for health care that many of the workers cannot afford, Anderson said.

In response, the National Labor Relations Board filed claims against the Hotel Employers Council. As a result, hotel workers have been granted full protection from their employers.

"This was a real victory for the workers," Anderson said.

The hotel workers also wish to address their present workload. Since the tourism industry and hotels laid off numerous workers in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, hotel workers have had a significantly increased workload.

But since then, the hotels have failed to rehire a significant number of employees, Anderson said.

Finally, the hotel workers would also like to address the issue of protection for immigrant workers, as well as expand employment opportunities in hotels for Black workers.

But little progress has been made thus far in the campaign, Zackin said.

"Although these local workers contribute much to the local tourism industry in Los Angeles, by themselves they have little impact in changing the work practices and ethics of the multinational corporations they work for," she wrote in an e-mail.

Nonetheless, the L.A. hotel workers have influenced other cities and spurred a national boycott. This includes major cities such as San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

More News About the Los Angeles Hotel Workers' Struggle for a Fair Contract >>