Unite HERE has reached a settlement on a new two-year contract with the Beverly Hilton Hotel, the last of the six Los Angeles area hotels that signed "me-too" agreements with the union to avoid being targeted for picket lines and possible strikes.

The agreement, retroactive to April 15, 2004, when the previous three-year contract expired, was ratified by the hotel's employees April 29.

It calls for the same gains employees at the other five hotels approved: A 2006 expiration date and small wage and pension increases.

"It's a big victory for rationality," said David Koff, research analyst for Local 11. "It undercuts any economic argument that what the union is proposing is beyond reason or something (hotels) can't live with. It may be fiscally irresponsible for the eight employer's council hotels not to accept the same terms that six of their competitors have accepted."

Unite HERE officials plan a formal announcement of the pact during an outdoor press conference at 11:30 a.m. Friday on the corner of Fifth and Flower streets.

The location is near the Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites, one of the eight hotels bargaining under the Los Angeles Hotel Employer's Council, which has refused to sign any deal that would expire in 2006.

Unite HERE locals across the nation want to line up 2006 expiration dates to give them national bargaining strength against the multi-national hotel chains.

Both sides are scheduled to resume negotiations for the first time in nearly three months on May 25.

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