Category Archives: Labor

Hotel workers still on strike in San Francisco

2 Replies

Hilton may have settled with Unite Here Local 5, but in San Francisco the union’s Local 2 has been strike against several hotels for nearly two months old with little apparent progress toward an agreement.

The union has called on visitors to honor their picket lines and boycott the targeted hotels.

• Grand Hyatt San Francisco Union Square

•Hilton San Francisco Union Square

•Palace Hotel (Marriott Luxury Collection)

•San Francisco Marriott Union Square

•Westin St. Francis (Marriott)

Workers on strike included housekeepers, bellhops, cooks, dishwashers, servers, bartenders and others,

5I walked over from our hotel to pick up an Enterprise rental car for our last several days before flying home.

There’s a row of car rental offices directly across from the San Francisco Hilton, one of several companies where unionized employees have been out on strike for nearly two months.

I was surprised to see there has been a virtual news blackout since the end of October. An online search of the San Francisco Chronicle found no news stories since the end of October, when dozens were arrested at the end of a march from the Hilton to nearby Union Square.

Turn your sound on!

It’s time to treat immigration as the solution rather than the problem

11 Replies

Isn’t the answer here pretty obvious?

One the one hand, the economy is being hit by shortages of people needing or wanting work, which drives up labor costs, adds to inflation, and generates labor strife.

Worker shortages are fueling America’s biggest labor crises, Washington Post, Sept 16.

U.S. Construction Industry Lags Due To Global Labor Shortage, BusinessWest.com, Sept 16.

America’s small businesses are running out of workers, CNN Business, Aug 19, 2022

And on the other hand…

Immigrant farming key to solving labor shortage, News5, Cleveland.

Retiring baby boomers are creating a labor shortage—immigration could be the solution, Fast Company, Sept 17.

Immigrants are key to addressing America’s labor shortage, lowering inflation, and growing our economy, The Hill, August 29.

There’s a solution to the labor shortage — and it’s the undocumented workers who are already here

We need to stop insisting that immigration is a problem to be used for political stunts, and begin treating a rational immigration policy as a solution.

Saturday dawn and dogs

Leave a reply

We walk every morning at dawn. Luckily, some dogs get to walk with their people at the same time and, luckily, most are willing the share their dogs with us.

Click on any photo to see a larger version.

Stagehands union strike authorization vote begins Friday

6 Replies

IATSE, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts, calls itself “the union behind entertainment.” But it’s taking center stage with a strike vote beginning on Friday, October 1, after its negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) stalled out.

An article in Newsweek today calls it Hollywood’s “biggest union walkout since World War Two.”

The union’s focus is on health and safety concerns.

“The science is clear,” the union says in a pamphlet distributed to members recently. “Long and irregular hours without adequate breaks and rest are unsafe. The IATSE Locals are unified in their recognition that no other industry demands its employees work without bathroom, meal, or relaxation breaks day after day. The IATSE Locals are unified in their understanding that no other industry deprives its employees enough time to drive to and from work and get eight hours sleep every work day, week after week, after week.”

Descriptions of shocking working conditions in the film industry are being shared via an Instagram account, @ia_stories, which recently got a writeup in Newsweek.

IATSE reportedly has 150,000 members in several locals, and likely has the capacity to shut down Hollywood productions of all kinds. Meanwhile, other industry unions are lining up in support of IATSE.

There are a couple of different agreements being negotiated at the same time, and it isn’t clear whether these will impact the union’s local in Hawaii. The website of IATSE Local 665 doesn’t contain any information on the Hollywood dispute or the additional standard agreement also being negotiated.