A show of solidarity for UNITE HERE

WASHINGTON, D.C.--Four months into a temporary extension of their collective bargaining agreement with area hotels, hundreds of members of UNITE HERE gathered at Farragut Square on November 10 to demand a new contract. They came with signs in Spanish and English, of course--but also in Vietnamese, French and Amharic.

Their present agreement expires on March 15. So far, management has proposed a package that offers wage increases averaging less than 1 percent a year, a heavier workload and no additional contributions to workers' pensions.

In exchange for their generosity, the bosses reserve the right to hire more low-paid temporary workers. After all, business is good, even with the recession. According to a projection by the hotel industry itself, revenue is expected to increase by 8 percent per year between now and 2014. Cheaper labor means more profits.

The multiracial workforce that gathered at Farragut Square--just a few blocks from the White House--had other ideas. The announcement of the rally said it would start at 5 p.m., but by then, some 200 people were already there. The turnout easily doubled over the next 20 minutes or so. Workers carried signs saying "Respect My Pension" and (in various languages) "Rights, Progress, Power."

"A fair contract is all we hope for," an immigrant worker named Robert said as the crowd began to cheer another batch of protesters arriving for the rally. When asked if he thought a strike would be necessary, he responded, "It depends on what management is willing to do."

The rally was at its peak after half an hour, swelled not just by hotel workers themselves but by supporters from other unions and the progressive community. The crowd marched throughout downtown Washington, D.C.--passing by the St. Regis, the Capitol Hilton and the Mayflower, three of the hotels covered by the present contract.

It was the peak of rush hour. But with hundreds of workers in the streets, "rush" was not the word. When the crowd returned to Farragut Square, a speaker from the union took the microphone to sum things up. "This is a taste of what's coming if we don't get a deal," he said. "You've got to take this message back to your hotels. We're going to win this fight--and let them try to stop us!"

Meanwhile, a few blocks away, the Obama administration was sending out signals that it was prepared to accept a continuation of the Bush tax cuts--a concession to the country's wealthiest people, meaning inevitable cuts in benefits and services for the rest of us.

That is, unless we follow the example of the hotel workers. As one of the signs in Farragut Square said, "Your Fight=Our Fight."