"David and Goliath" Procession Delivers Boycott
Message To Downtown Hotels
Religious Leaders from Across City Stage Dramatic
Interfaith Action in Support of Hotel Workers

Invoking the biblical story of David and Goliath, dozens of Southland religious leaders and their congregants today lent their support to the cause of hotel workers with an interfaith procession and service in downtown Los Angeles.

The action increased the pressure on nine hotels involved in a protracted labor dispute with nearly 3,000 workers. Last week a boycott was declared against those hotels, which include the Millennium Biltmore, Bonaventure, Hyatt Regency, Wilshire Grand, Regent Beverly Wilshire, Century Plaza, St. Regis, Hyatt West Hollywood, and the Sheraton Universal.

"Today we urge people of all faiths to join with us in protesting the unfair and immoral actions of these hotels, which are denying hard-working men and women the respect and dignity they deserve," said Father Jay Cunnane of St. Thomas Church, one of the largest Catholic congregations in the Western United States.

"People of good conscience should take their business to hotels that respect the basic rights of their workers," said Rabbi Leonard Beerman, a top Jewish leader.

Many leading clergy from major churches and temples across the city took part in the action. The broad interfaith coalition included

Catholic, Episcopal, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, Jewish, Muslim and Unitarian religious leaders and congregants.

Workers from downtown hotels also participated, joining the procession as it moved from the Biltmore to the Wilshire Grand and finally to the Hyatt Regency.

Dressed in robes, carrying candles and signs, the clergy and dozens of their congregants delivered stone tablets inscribed with scripture and the words "Boycott Injustice" to three of the hotels-the Biltmore, the Wilshire Grand and the Hyatt. A powerful service was held in front of the Hyatt, with clergy building an altar representing five pillars-hope, faith, love, prayer and justice.

"We must put our faith into action, and today that means boycotting the hotels that are visiting injustice upon thousands of their workers," said Rev. Dick Gillett, Social Justice Minister for the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles.

Housekeepers, cooks, servers, dishwashers, bellmen, front desk and PBX workers were joined last week by a wide array of elected officials and community leaders in calling for a boycott of the nine luxury hotels of the L.A. Hotel Employers Council. The boycott announcement came after six months of threats and intimidation, the fear of an employer lockout, and termination of the workers' union contract.

Employers want workers to back down from their demands for humane workloads, employer paid health insurance, livable wages and access to hotel jobs for the African American community.