Operators of 14 downtown hotels involved in a bitter work stoppage voted Tuesday to lock out employees at four of the hotels after they end their two-week strike.

Workers at four San Francisco hotels went on strike last Wednesday and hotel operators responded by locking out employees at 10 other locations last Friday. The lockout will extend to the other four hotels when the strike is scheduled to end at 12:01 a.m. Oct. 13. (Related story: D.C. hotels and union agree to keep talking)

"They strongly feel that they must protect the business of their member hotels," said Barbara French, a spokeswoman for the San Francisco Multi-Employer Group. "(They) voted to extend the lockout to assure that all hotels can operate and provide uninterrupted service to guests."

The hotels have hired replacement workers and are continuing to operate during the work stoppage.

"The hotels report they are at or near capacity and are servicing their guests," French said. "What they want is an agreement."

Union President Mike Casey sent a letter to the hotel operators Tuesday proposing to return to the bargaining table at the end of two-week strike, French said. But the hotels countered by pushing to immediately return to the negotiating table.

"We believe negotiations must begin immediately and conveyed that message to Mr. Casey," French said.

Casey did not immediately return a call for reaction and union spokeswoman Valerie Lapin declined to comment.

The union, Unite Here Local 2, represents about 8,000 workers at 60 San Francisco hotels. Some 4,000 cooks, room cleaners, dishwashers, bellmen, servers and switchboard operators are affected by the strike and lockout involving the 14 hotels.

Hourly wages for most range from $9 to $15, up to around $20 for cooks.

The group representing the hotels said last week it believed the two sides could agree on all issues except one, the proposed length of the contract, which expired in August. The hotel seeks a five-year deal, while the union wants a two-year contract that would expire when hotel workers in other major cities are set to renegotiate their labor pacts.

Other issues involve wages, pensions and health care premiums.

The four hotels struck are the Argent Hotel, the Crowne Plaza Union Square, the Hilton and the Intercontinental Mark Hopkins.

The 10 hotels locking out union workers are the Fairmont, Four Seasons, Grand Hyatt San Francisco, Holiday Inn Civic Center, Holiday Inn Express & Suites Fisherman's Wharf, Holiday Inn at Fisherman's Wharf, Palace, Hyatt Regency, Omni and Westin St. Francis.

Meanwhile, police have arrested 44 protesters on suspicion of failing to disperse during a protest in downtown Los Angeles. More than 1,000 housekeepers, bartenders and servers and their allies participated in the protest at the Hyatt Regency, police Officer Jason Lee said.

Elsewhere, about 10,000 casino hotel workers in Atlantic City, from more than half the city's 12 casinos went on strike last Friday and talks resumed Tuesday between the union representing some 3,500 workers and the management group for the 14 hotels in Washington, D.C., which employ them.