SAN FRANCISCO - November 23, 2009 - Local 2 Unite Here should end its destructive practice of calling rolling strikes at hotels around San Francisco and focus on talks at the negotiation table for the benefit of their members and the city�s hospitality industry. 

�San Francisco hotels want their employees on the job, not on the picket lines,� said Patricia Breslin, Executive Director of the Hotel Council of San Francisco. �Our association wants to encourage productive contract talks through the holiday season for the benefit of all parties involved. The 3-day strikes orchestrated by Local 2 have not significantly impacted hotel operations and our members are welcoming back their workers without repercussions after these limited labor actions. But what union leaders are doing is harmful to San Francisco�s economy, tourism and international reputation.� 

The average hotel housekeeper makes $60,000 in salary and benefits, including healthcare for themselves and their families. Hotel workers in San Francisco are the second-highest paid workers in their industry in the country. San Francisco hotels compensate their employees at a rate 40 percent higher than their counterparts in the city of Chicago. 

�The truth is a majority of Local 2 members never voted to authorize these strike actions,� said Ms. Breslin. �It has taken the hotel industry 10 years to recover to levels of profitability last seen in 1999. This year, occupancy is down and room rates have been pushed even lower by national economic conditions while hotel operator costs are up. A sustainable economic and business model for the years ahead will be good for everyone.� 

The Hotel Council has hired Sam Singer, President of Singer Associates, to act as a spokesman for the trade group. Mr. Singer was named spokesperson of the year in 2008 by PR News and earlier this year helped the Bay Area Rapid Transit District successfully conclude more than four months of negotiations with its two largest unions.