Jul. 18, 2003 - Hundreds of hotel workers rallied in Monterey on Thursday to demand a raise and protest changes to their workload and insurance plans. 

Contracts run out at the end of the month for about 1,000 workers at 10 Peninsula hotels and one in Santa Cruz. Local 483 of the Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees Union organized the rally and promised that more will follow as negotiations continue. The union estimated the turnout at more than 450 people, while Monterey police said it was about 300. "Whatever we get from this contract, it affects everybody," said Mario Zepeda, a server who works for the Pebble Beach Co. "It doesn't matter where they work." 

With about a third of the Peninsula's work force, or nearly 10,000 people, employed in the hospitality industry, the next union contracts are likely to indirectly affect earnings well beyond the union's membership. 

Hotel workers and supporters from other unions gathered at El Estero Park, carrying signs reading "Hotel Workers Say: I'm Worth $1 More." They marched on Camino Aguajito, holding the signs aloft and shaking soda-can noisemakers. Police officers held back rush-hour traffic as the marchers wound their way to a lot in front of the Hyatt Regency that workers call "the corral." 

Hyatt, which also owns Carmel Highlands Inn, has one of the largest groups of employees in contract negotiations. Michael Koffler, general manager of the Hyatt Regency Monterey, declined to comment on the negotiations or the march. 

Instead, Koffler read a prepared statement that said the hotel hopes to reach an agreement with the union. 

"The hotel industry and our hotel specifically are experiencing difficult economic conditions," Koffler said. "Despite the fact that progress has been slow, I believe that both the union and the hotel have been frank and professional throughout the bargaining process. It is our hope and expectation that we will reach a fair and equitable agreement before the expiration of the current agreement that allows us to remain competitive." 

One of the key union demands is a $1-per-hour raise. Citing union contracts and hospitality industry figures, the union contends that Monterey workers earn less than their counterparts in San Francisco and Los Angeles even though hotel rooms in the Monterey Bay Area cost more. James Hood of Seaside, who has worked at the Carmel Highlands Inn for 13 years, said a raise is crucial to keeping up with the cost of living on the Monterey Peninsula. 

"If you're going to be loyal to the company, this company should be loyal to you," Hood said. 

A floor captain, Hood makes $8 an hour. He depends on gratuities to supplement his income, but fewer visitors in the past year have meant fewer tips. He estimates that his yearly income has dropped dramatically from a few years ago. Now his wife has had to go to work and the couple has new day-care expenses for their children. In addition to the raise, the union wants the hotels to maintain current workload standards. Nirmala Prakash, a housekeeper at the Hyatt Regency, cleans 13 rooms. Hotel management wants that upped to 16, she said. 

The housekeepers are already strained, said Prakash, who lives in Seaside and has worked at the Hyatt for 13 years. She recently injured her shoulder and neck while cleaning a room and is in physical therapy. The raise is also important to Prakash, who makes $9.45 an hour. Rent at the three-bedroom apartment she shares in Seaside with her four children recently went up from $1,150 a month to $1,300. "We have to be counting every penny just for the living," she said. 

Many of the workers said they worry about rising health-care costs. Several workers said the Hyatt is now requiring a burdensome health insurance co-payment for new workers. 

"I'm fighting for the newly hired right now," said Allen Santos, a 20-year veteran banquet supervisor at the Hyatt. Leonard O'Neill, secretary-treasurer of the union, said that his organization generally has a good relationship with local hotels. However, he said the Hyatt's proposal "only expands this working poor sector of Monterey." 

At the end of the rally on Thursday, O'Neill asked participants if they would be willing to rally again this summer, and the demonstrators responded with a powerful chorus of cheers, buoyed by whistles, noisemakers, and drums. 

As the crowd left the corral, people chanted, "We'll be back." 

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(c) 2003, Monterey County Herald, Calif. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.