Hotels, Union to Resume Talks in SF
KRON Channel 4 - January 3, 2004

San Francisco hotel managers and union representatives say they will be back at the bargaining table this week after a holiday hiatus.

Both sides are in the midst of a 60-day cooling off period that began Nov. 20, allowing more than 4,000 workers to go back to their jobs at the 14 hotels in the San Francisco Multi-Employer Group.

Prior to Nov. 20, the hotels had locked out the cooks, bellhops, housekeepers and others for several weeks following a two-week union strike. The rancorous dispute was marked by loud picket lines at some of the city's most elegant hotels.

Contract negotiations have continued during the much quieter cooling-off period, but the last meeting was Dec. 17, according to a hotel group spokesman.

UNITE HERE Local 2 is expected to offer a counterproposal in the meetings on Thursday and Friday, a spokeswoman for the union said today.

Major issues in the negotiations have been health care costs and the length of the contract.