Baltimore hotel workers fight for respect

"THEY TREAT us like slaves." "There's struggle and pain every day." "They just don't respect us." "If they could pay us in cotton, they would."

These are some of the complaints of angry hospitality workers from Baltimore's Sheraton City Center Hotel, who are in a long fight for decent pay, job security, affordable health care and better working conditions. They spoke at the offices of UNITE HERE Local 7 on April 30 to more than 100 fellow hotel workers, union organizers and community activists from all over the region.

Having worked without a contract for more than two years, the Sheraton workers made the courageous move six months ago of supporting a boycott and regular pickets of the hotel. The crowd was pumped up as dozens of workers, who are mostly African American or Latino, testified about being forced to do more work with fewer resources and staff.

"It's worse now than it's ever been," said Laurie, who has worked at the Sheraton for 11 years. "It's not like we can just go somewhere else and get a job--there aren't any. You should see [management] in the negotiations. They act like they don't care what we say at all."

Hospitality is now the second-largest industry in Baltimore, yet the Sheraton is the only unionized hotel in the city. This struggle is therefore a very important one for organized labor here, particularly in the service sector.

The boycott has already cost the Sheraton's owner, Columbia Sussex, nearly $3 million. Several union locals that routinely held events at the hotel have stayed away in solidarity. And notably, national groups like the United Way and the Democratic National Committee have respected the boycott and moved their conferences to other hotels.

Employees of the Crystal City Hilton in Virginia, also a Columbia Sussex property and organized by Local 7, were also at the rally. Alice, who has worked at the Hilton for 35 years, said, "There used to be 200 of us; now there's just 50. There are only two cooks for the entire hotel!"

Nelly, a laundry worker who has worked 15 years at the Crystal City Hilton, said, with the help of a translator, "Columbia Sussex is constantly trying to squeeze us, so we have to squeeze back. If they poke us in the eye, we poke back."

Workers from three non-unionized hotels, who decided to remain anonymous, bravely testified about their similar work conditions and their efforts to organize. "We don't even have toilet paper to put in the rooms," one of them said. "When we asked for a raise because food prices are so high, the manager broke out in a big smile and said, 'We'll do a review next year.'"

People were very optimistic about their prospects for winning, despite management's efforts to divide and isolate them. "When they laid off a bunch of us a few years back, we fought back and won their jobs back," said a Sheraton banquet server. Laurie emphatically added, "I want to show my children: when things are bad, I don't just give up. I fight!"

The boycott campaign is drawing more community support all the time. In addition to hotel workers and UNITE HERE organizers, the rally included representatives of other local unions, religious leaders, Baltimore city council members and activist groups. Adding to the optimism, Jancy--a cook at the Sheraton--said, "They got money, but we got more than that: we got supporters."