African-American leaders issued a strong call today in support of Los Angeles hotel workers, asking their community not to cross picket lines or take replacement jobs in the event of a lockout or strike.

Joining in the call were the NAACP of Los Angeles, elected officials and top religious leaders, signaling the breadth of support for hotel workers, the majority of whom are immigrants and minorities.

"Today it is the hotel workers who are fighting for decent and reasonable benefits Tomorrow it could be you and I," said Assembymember Jerome Horton. "If you cross the picket lines, one by one you will become victims of the greed that demands your dignity."

Press conferences will also be held in the coming week by leaders of the Asian American and Latino communities urging their constituencies not to take replacement jobs or cross picket lines.

"The African American religious community is standing with the hotel workers in order for them to have a livable wage and health care paid for by their employer and dignity and respect in the workplace," said Bishop Henry M. Williamson of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. "We will stand with them and we will not cross picket lines. We're standing because Dr. King stood with garbage workers. We have the moral, the historical, the spiritual perspective through Dr. King, who lost his life fighting for garbage workers."

Nearly 3,000 workers at nine hotels have authorized a strike if necessary in response to threats of a lockout from hotel management. The workers are fighting for better wages, benefits and working conditions, as well as a national voice that will enable them to move from poverty into the middle class.

"We feel that the jobs in the region's billion dollar tourism industry should be paths to the middle class, not a dead-end road to poverty," said Rev. Norman Johnson, the pastor at New Christian Church.and a prominent civil rights leader.

Hotel workers are also demanding greater diversity in hotel hiring practices, including a greater number of African-Americans, whose representation at Los Angeles hotels has declined.

Wages for Los Angeles hotel workers rank near the bottom compared to other major markets in the U.S. Hotel housekeepers, for example, earn $11.02 an hour in L.A. while in New York they are paid nearly $19 an hour. Hotel employees in Los Angeles are also facing much greater workloads while being asked to pay for an increasing percentage of their health care costs.

Civil rights groups, elected officials and religious leaders urged the community to support the workers in the event of a strike or lockout in the following ways:

• Do not cross picket lines to attend hotel events
• Do not hold events at affected hotels
• Do not take replacement jobs which may become available at the hotels if the workers are locked out or go on strike
• Join hotel workers in their actions, rallies and picket lines to offer them moral support
• Donate food and funds for emergency relief to assist the families of hotel workers during this struggle.

Participants at the press conference included Larry Aubry of the NAACP of Los Angeles, Assemblymember Jerome Horton, Assemblymember-Elect Karen Bass, Minister Tony Muhammad of the Nation of Islam, Bishop Henry Williamson of Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, Rev. Norman Johnson of New Christian Church, Rev. Craig Ward of Grace Community CME Church, Rev. Harold Mitchell of Greater Emmanuel Church, and Rev. Jarvis Johnson of Calvary CME Church, among others.

The affected hotels are the St. Regis, the Sheraton Universal, The Westin Century Plaza, the Hyatt Regency Los Angeles, the Hyatt West Holly wood, the Millennium Biltmore, the Regent Beverly Wilshire, the Westin Bonaventure and the Wilshire Grand Hotel & Centre.