Many Languages, One Voice
By Carl Finamore
I PARKED A FEW blocks away and was on the lookout for hotel
workers to lead my way to UNITE-HERE Local 2’s contract
convention being held in San Francisco’s huge George
Moscone Center complex on July 23. Since 1986, the union has
successfully used these massively attended conventions to
mobilize its membership on the eve of contract fights.
I was definitely expecting an enthusiastic group. So I
figured spotting these union workers wouldn’t be too hard,
easily distinguishable from other late afternoon downtown
pedestrians walking briskly to rush home after work.
I kept my eye out for people wearing more casual and
comfortable clothing after obviously having shed work
uniforms. As I scanned the crowded sidewalks, there were
several other things that caught my eye.
I was seeing small groups who obviously felt comfortable
with each other as they
talked, laughed and waved without once slowing their fast
pace. They were all going somewhere together. What stood out
most, however, was the large number of women and the
impressive rainbow blend of Asian, Latin and Black.
I knew this was not going to be a normal
union convention,
that it was something different. But I got even more. I got
insight into how a union has been able to successfully
mobilize and involve a widely-diversified membership,
including thousands of immigrants, over a 25-year period.
Education and Mobilization
The contracts for close to 23,000 workers in Los Angeles,
Chicago and San Francisco expire in August with bargaining
in the City by the Bay alone involving 32 hotels, 17
companies and another set of smaller hotels. In each case,
management is expected to propose major concessions across
the board.
As one of San Francisco’s largest unions with 13,000
members, Local 2 has also been among
its most active, winning the best contracts in the country
and organizing nearly 90% of city hotels.
Fresh off a victorious 2004-2006 battle that included a
headline-grabbing three-day strike/lock-out and a two-year
boycott, Local 2 won common August expiration dates for
several dozen hotels in the three major cities who will now
for the first time bargain together. This is absolutely key
to the union’s strategy.
Local 2 President Mike Casey declared to cheering delegates
that “if the hotels delay our bargaining, then hotel
contracts in other cities will also soon expire and we will
insist on common expiration dates for everyone before any of
us settle.”
Casey continued to rouse the convention by emphasizing that
the union “will negotiate separately with each hotel if
that’s the way they want it but we will do it as one union
with one union standard. And our negotiators at each hotel
will include committee leaders from
a mix of other hotels so that our basic proposals remain
the same for every hotel. One union, one contract!”
The room exploded! Workers understood how
conditions in one
hotel or even one city could not be maintained without the
solidarity of thousands of other workers. This is a big
difference from other industries where master contracts have
fallen to the wayside. Neither in trucking, airlines, auto
or steel is there a similar union bargaining strategy of
protecting the union standard throughout a particular
industry, at each location, north or south, east or west,
big or small.
The Message is the Medium
True to my expectations, the convention was an exciting
eye-opener. It was immediately convened with the chair
announcing that the “Contract is Coming Up” and asking
rhetorically “Are You Ready to Fight?” The assembled
responded emotionally with increasingly loud, rhythmic
shouts of “Damn Right!”
The militancy of Local 2 members was proclaimed for all to
hear. Then the strength of the union’s diversity kicked
in, including in the opening prayer. Rev. Israel I. Alvaran,
a Local 2 organizer, began with “Nasa Diyos ang awa, nasa
tao ang gawa.” From Tagalog to English, it translates
“in God we find mercy and compassion, but we have to work
and struggle for our own destiny.”
The audience of 1000 union hotel leaders included many
immigrants and upon hearing the first familiar words of the
invocation, many responded by applauding and completing the
phrase along with the Reverend.
I was able to observe several other times throughout the
convention how the membership was united by acknowledging
its variety of cultures and languages. Again and again,
different groups
of workers voiced their pride and enthusiasm upon hearing
their particular language recognized and respected.
In addition to English, subsequent contract
and strike preparation reports were also given in both
Cantonese and Spanish. Each time they were met with loud
cheers from an appreciative audience. I was reminded of the
historic and victorious 1912 Lawrence textile strike which
had a leadership committee assembled by the militant
Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) where several dozen
anguages were heard “but all speaking with one voice.”
The Economy Won’t Be an Excuse
Local 2 is different in another important way in how it
confronts concessionary demands. The union will not concede
he recent economic slump as bargaining leverage for the
owners when, in fact, profits over the long haul have been
extremely large.
Once again, the long view is a good reminder for other
unions to consider when bargaining during difficult periods.
In any case, an accurate financial picture of the hotel
industry was drawn for delegates in order to prepare them
for the inevitable spectacle of employers shedding crocodile tears
and complaining about their hardships. In fact, in the last
few decades pursuit of profits, the hotel industry has been
squeezing workers tighter and tighter.
For example, in 1988, there were 70.7 hotel workers per 100
occupied rooms. By 2008, this number dropped to 52.9 workers
per 100 rooms. Local 2 research director, Ian Lewis,
reflected the mood of the delegates when he blasted the
employers for “not increasing staffing levels when they
were making all this profit the last 20 years.”
Each convention report elicited the same obvious conclusion
from even the newest, least experience union member – it
takes union power to raise benefits, wages and working
conditions, you cannot rely on the goodwill of the
employers.
Again, this education focus is something we in other unions
can learn when planning our conferences and conventions.
It Starts with Organizing Members
Much of Local 2’s success is owed to the fact that each
ndividual hotel has a union committee. The convention’s
goal of recruiting 800 committee members is rapidly becoming
a reality. It is a top leadership priority.
Becoming a committee member starts with attending two union
meetings, participating in two actions and taking
responsibility for two assignments. In other words, someone
who consistently defends the union, helps enforce the
contract and organizes other workers on the job. Then you
come to the committee meetings which formulates and enacts
the union’s plan.
Most stewards in other unions do not have to make anywhere
near this commitment but it is how Local 2 has established
itself as an activist union with substantial rank and file
participation over the last several decades.
Devoting major resources to recruiting, training, educating
and mobilizing members is another absolutely
critical lesson other unionists can learn from Local 2.
The End is the Beginning
I was getting accustomed to the spirit of this convention.
It was both contagious and exciting. So, I guess I should
not have been surprised when the meeting adjourned to march
to the Intercontinental Hotel a few blocks away.
Management was caught completely off guard as hundreds of
pickets surrounded the hotel. Plodding rush hour traffic
greeted us with horns honking, hands waving and voices
heering us on.
The convention previously heard reports from the
Intercontinental union committee about flagrant contract
violations. These rather bold, mostly women in-house leaders
had been organizing regular, unannounced lobby rallies with
several dozen co-workers to protest these violations.
In response, the company sent a letter to the union
demanding an end to employees disrupting the smooth
functioning of the hotel. The employer
cited contract language prohibiting lobby protests.
The letter was read to the convention by President Casey
who then defiantly appealed for everyone “to march to the
Intercontinental to let them know we can’t be pushed
around and that we back up our Committee.”
This spontaneous and effective solidarity mobilization on
behalf of workers at one hotel sets the stage for the
important fight emerging in the next few months. It also
sets a very good example.
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