On September 4th, nearly 300 hotel workers of the labor union Unite Here! Local 19 rallied in front of the San Jose McEnery Convention Center to draw public attention to the daily struggles of hotel service employees. They then marched to three downtown hotels that are currently undergoing contract negotiations - the Marriott, the Hilton and Towers, and the Crowne Plaza.

The hotel workers' march coincided with the 2008 Leadership Conference of SEIU (Service Employees International Union) United Healthcare Workers - West, taking place in the San Jose's McEnery Convention Center. Hotel workers marched through the convention center, chanting slogans of solidarity with health-care workers. In return, some SEIU-UHW healthcare workers joined in solidarity with the hotel workers march.

The hotel workers' 2008 contract campaign is aimed at achieving three objectives: to transform below-subsistence wages into liveable wages, to achieve humane workloads, and to win affordable family healthcare.

Altogether, Unite Here! Local 19 is negotiating contracts with six hotels in Santa Clara County, affecting well over 1000 workers and their families. The other hotels undergoing contract talks are the Wyndham and Holiday Inn hotels in San José, and the Hilton Hotel in Santa Clara. If successful, organizers say the contract settlements could be a milestone in establishing limits on workloads and improved wage levels that will likely set an industry standard for Silicon Valley.

Photos | Hotel Workers Rising