Locked-out hotel workers in San Francisco face another crisis: Their health-care coverage is set to end Dec. 1.

On Nov. 8, the hotel bosses decided not to distribute funds from a joint hotel-union trust fund to extend health coverage by two months to the more than 4,000 people who have been locked out of their jobs for almost two months.

The hotel owners show no concern for the fate of their employees.

During negotiations in early November, the employers made a meager change to their contract proposal. Under their original proposal, some workers would have paid as much as $273 per month for health care by the last two years of a five-year contract. The new proposal called for a single worker to pay $40 per month and employees with dependents to pay $79 to $119 in the last two years of the contract.

All workers now pay $10 per month for health coverage.

The owners continued to demand that employees work a minimum of 80 hours per month to qualify for health care--rather than the current minimum of 18 hours per month. The union says the change would leave more than 1,000 workers without coverage.

While employers are demanding that workers pay more for their health care, they are offering only a few pennies' increase in wages. They propose a 20-cent per-hour raise each year for employees who don't receive tips, and a 5-cent per-hour increase for those who receive tips.

The union wants a 55-cent per-hour increase for workers who don't get tips, and 45 cents for tipped workers, for each year of a two-year contract.

UNITE HERE Local 2 launched a two-week strike against four hotels on Sept. 29, to push for a decent contract. Two weeks later hotel operators locked out workers at 10 other hotels.

The union is fighting to protect health and pension benefits, reduce work loads, and raise wages. It is also pushing for a two-year contract that would expire at the same time as union contracts in Boston, New York and other major cities--which would give the workers more bargaining power. The hotel bosses want a five-year contract.

On Nov. 15 UNITE HERE Local 2 worked out an agreement with Kaiser Permanente so that 3,500 hotel workers it covers will continue to receive health care benefits through the end of January. The two healthcare systems that cover the remaining 800 locked-out workers had not responded to Local 2's request to extend their coverage as of that night.

The hotel workers continue to receive strong support from other unions and community groups. In response to a call from Local 2, many unions have adopted a hotel's workers, sending their members to join the picket lines.

School bus drivers from United Transportation Union Local 1741 have walked in solidarity with hotel workers three times.

"Profit-making corporations are asking their employees who make very little money to shoulder the high cost of health care," said UTU member Shane Hoff. "In many instances, the workers won't be able to afford health care.

"It was an issue with the grocery workers who went on strike in Southern California, it's an issue here. And we expect it will be an issue in our upcoming contract negotiations," Hoff said.