Nearly a dozen religious leaders from various Christian, Jewish and Muslim traditions re-affirmed their commitment to support the plight of Los Angeles hotel workers entering their 11th month of working without a contract.

"We believe your cause is a righteous cause," said Evangelical Lutheran Bishop Dean Nelson, at an interfaith gathering to bless a small group of hotel workers Feb. 23 at the downtown building of Unite Here. The blessing of workers was sponsored by Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE).

Some 2,600 housekeepers, bellhops, servers and bartenders and other hotel workers have been working without a contract at eight hotels since April 2004. The union and the Los Angeles Hotel Employer's Council have been disputing key issues like the length of the contract, wages, and health care premiums.

The hotels include the Westin Bonaventure, Hyatt Regency L.A., Hyatt West Hollywood, Millennium Biltmore, Sheraton Universal, Westin Century Plaza, the Wilshire Grand and the Regent Beverly Wilshire. A ninth hotel, St. Regis, was sold and will be turned into condominiums.

Father Jarlath Cunnane, pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Los Angeles and a spiritual leader to many parishioners working at the hotels, said he hoped that the hotel owners would come to value not just the hands of workers, but to understand that "you are people, with spouses, with medical necessities, with children."

Father Mike Gutierrez, pastor of St. Anne Church in Santa Monica, said he too was keeping the faith that hotel employers "have a heart."

At the interfaith gathering, two workers spoke about the difficulties they have encountered with health insurance coverage for themselves and their families after the hotels imposed a $10 a week charge for health insurance premiums beginning in July. The hotels said they stopped the charges in February as a goodwill gesture. Their decision took place shortly after the National Labor Relations Board agreed to hold a hearing on whether or not the charges were legal.

"We at this point, after so many months, need more strength in order to keep moving forward," said Maria Elena Durzao, president of Unite Here Local 11. "We need the special strength that clergy can give us --- spiritual strength."

Each visiting religious leader brought a spiritual item to add to an interfaith altar created in the lobby of Unite Here.

Jaime Rapaport of the Progressive Jewish Alliance said that for progressive Jews keeping kosher means not patronizing businesses that do not keep ethical standards. The Alliance, she said, was encouraging its members not to schedule any of their events at the hotels involved in the impasse.

More than 150 American Baptist churches in Southern California have also agreed not to hold meetings, conferences or retreats in the hotels.

Hotel union workers across the country have wanted to line up contracts that would expire in 2006 in order to have better leverage with what they say are powerful multi-national hotel corporations.

But Fred Muir, hotel spokesman for the Los Angeles Hotel Employer's Council said that Los Angeles hotels are locally owned although they may use name-brand reservation systems. He added that each hotel market is unique, making national negotiations not viable.

"The health of the hotel industry is very different from city to city," he said. "It's difficult to have a contract to cover all these different cities."

No new talks in Los Angeles are currently scheduled. "The hope is that we could meet again soon," said Muir.

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