Protest calls for boycott of 2 San Francisco hotels

SAN FRANCISCO - Before some guests could check in to the San Francisco Le Meridien hotel Monday, they were met by protestors telling them to check out.

"There's a boycott here. Check out. Get your money back," protestors shouted as they circled the pavement outside the luxury hotel on Clay Street in San Francisco's financial district.

Bullhorns blared and some tempers flared as hundreds of hotel union members picketed for nearly 12 hours outside Le Meridien and the Hyatt Fishermans' Wharf hotels.

Members of UniteHere, Local 2 and their supporters say the properties' owner Chesapeake Lodging Trust is refusing to let the workers vote on whether to unionize.

"We just pulled up today and I said what the heck is going on?" said Karen Cavanaugh, a Le Meridien hotel guest vacationing from Florida.

Guests said they could hear the bullhorns from many of the hotel rooms starting at 7 a.m. in the morning.

UniteHere union leaders say that housekeepers, cooks, dishwashers, servers, and bellmen at the two hotels requested a vote on whether to unionize.

"Last year, the workers in two hotels signed a public petition to say to Chesapeake that they wanted to have a fair process," said Tho Do, the protest organizer with Unite Here. She said the properties' owner Chesapeake Lodging Trust has not responded.

"All hotel workers should be making the same thing and should be getting the same benefits," said Mona Wilson, a UniteHere Local 2 member who works as a cashier at the Grand Hyatt, which has a different owner.

The union says about 89 percent of San Francisco hotels are unionized. They say Le Meridien's wages are similar to union scales, but there are differences in health care benefits.

Several dozen protestors sat down and blocked the front doors of the hotel about 5 p.m. and were surrounded by police who had received advance notice of the civil disobedience.

"If you do not disperse, you will be subject to arrest for trespassing," warned the Central District Captain David Lazar.

"We are a union town, the only way that low wage workers like hotel workers can afford to live in the city of SF is if they have a union contract and can collectively bargain," said Hillary Ronen, a San Francisco resident who joined the seated protestors who were willing to be arrested.

Some hotel guests said they were disgusted by the union's disruption.

"This is horrible. It's bad enough they're over there, but over here blocking the doors? Come on, this is just wrong," said Karen Cavanagh, who praised Le Meridien staff and said she would intentionally stay at Le Meridien on her next visit to support the company.

She said the union should not tell a company how to do business and she made an obscene gesture to the protestors as she returned to the hotel lobby, with the protestors shouting back at her.

Other guests had the opposite reaction. Some said they supported the union and plan to check out or avoid the hotel in the future.

"I think workers need to be recognized and there's too much corporate greed," said Alan Cheg, a Le Meridien hotel guest from Dallas.

Police arrested 22 protestors who were loaded onto vans. The other protestors eventually dispersed, restoring some peace for guests, but not necessarily peace of mind.

KTVU called the Chesapeake Lodging Trust corporate office, but as of Monday evening there was no response. KTVU also spoke with Le Meridien's general manager Michael Washington who declined to comment.