St. Francis doesn’t live up to its name

THE NAME St. Francis generally evokes serene images of the devout canonized Catholic aesthetic, who is a favorite even among the non-religious because of his professed humility and sincerity. Not so in San Francisco.

The name St. Francis brings howls of anger and disapproval, sometimes amplified with a bullhorn. Each one of UNITE HERE Local 2's 650 members at the Westin St. Francis Hotel walked off the job on November 18, and began a loud, moving picket line surrounding the hotel. The strike continued all day and all night for three days, to be followed by a boycott--the same pattern of strike/boycott that targeted the city's Palace and Grand Hyatt hotels.

Local 2 President Mike Casey expects a long and tough fight as individual negotiations with over two dozen major hotels and another several dozen smaller ones have bogged down according to the union because employers "press for a contract that would slash health and retirement benefits and would increase workloads."

The conflict is reminiscent of the union's 2004-2006 strike-lockout and two-year boycott, which resulted in complete victory for the union. In fact, the hotels are reported to have lost $100 million in revenues during that dispute.

Local 2 is very serious about boycotts and aggressively reaches out to major clients to suggest rescheduling conventions, invoking cancellation clauses or rebooking at non-boycotted union hotels. "The last time they tried to slash health care, the resulting struggle cost them millions," Local 2 organizer Mark Westerberg told me. "This year's shaping up to be a replay of that fight,"

But still, there is no indication that any hotel is backing off from attempts to extract concessions. "They just want to use the economy as an excuse to cut back, even though we know they're making money," said Francesca Ramos, a 19-year seamstress at the hotel.

As Mike Casey told me: "We are already preparing for 2010. Our members are ready to last this one out, just as we did in our 2004-2006 victory, when we turned up the heat with a two-year broadly-supported boycott. We will not be predictable. We will use these types of brief, targeted actions, and then move on to another location."

UNLIKE THE storied real St. Francis, who is famously supposed to have emptied his pockets of coins after chasing down a beggar, the hotel owners appear more likely to chase after others whose pockets they can empty.

That's exactly what is being proposed in negotiations. Workers who earn an average of $30,000 a year are being asked to pay more for health care, contrary to the long-term understanding between Local 2 and the hotels that benefits would be preserved if workers would accept only modest wage increases over past years. Local 2 says workers have kept their end of the bargain, and the hotels have not.

Hotel management is additionally asking that there be no retiree medical coverage for new hires, according to attorney Richard Curiale who represents Starwood in negotiations. The current contracts provide medical coverage to all retirees for the rest of their lives, "but that [system] is going to come crashing down," Curiale told San Francisco Appeal. The issue is skyrocketing health care costs, which is affecting businesses across the country, Curiale complained.

Apparently, Westin St. Francis owners Strategic Hotels & Resorts aren't satisfied with earning $11 million from their flagship hotel in the first nine months of this year. Nor is Starwood, managers of the hotel, satisfied with $180 million in profits in the same period. In response, Local 2 estimates the cost of the union's one-year contract proposal to be less than $500,000.

The disparity between the lofty name of the hotel and the rather earthly designs of the owners and managers has not gone unnoticed by supporters of Local 2. "They should either change their name or change their attitude," Rev. Israel Alvaran told a group of strikers.

The famed St. Francis Hotel has the premier location in San Francisco, located right in the middle of the busy downtown Union Square commercial district. With classic 19th century construction modeled on the renowned Ritz hotel in Paris, construction was completed in March 1906 with California railroad money.

The St. Francis had the unfortunate distinction of opening its doors just one month before the catastrophic San Francisco earthquake, which completely burned its interior. Working feverishly to repair the damage, the hotel was soon back up and running, and stood as a shining example of San Francisco's revival.

Today offers the same opportunity. But hotel management must work just as feverishly to repair a damaged reputation caused by their refusal to agree to a contract with employees that would cost less than 1.5 percent of payroll.

Now what would the real St. Francis do?