One third of all employed people living on the Monterey Peninsula work in the hospitality industry; UNITE HERE! Local 483, their union is on the brink of a strike.

On August 31 the union held a rally in support of the about 1,200 Monterey Peninsula workers whose contracts will be renegotiated in the next eight months. The rally started at 4:30 pm on Fairgrounds Rd. and Garden Rd. behind the Monterey Bay Travelodge. It was followed by a march to the Hilton Garden Inn on Aguajito Road, ending with a rally at the entrance of the Hyatt Regency on Old Golf Course Road.

Marchers wore red shirts and some had bullhorns leading the crowd of 750 with mantras such as, “What do we want? Contracts! When do we want them? Now!”

Currently, contracts are expiring at 11 area hotels. The Monterey Bay Travelodge's contract has already expired, and since new ownership in 2004 workers have gone without health insurance, pensions, and their wages have been frozen.

According to Pat McDougal, a Quail Lodge employee and union committee member, the march was, “just to let the lodge's know that we are united.” He also stated, “We usually have a march like this because the lodges always demand the same sorts of things... hopefully this is not something that's going to continue, it's nice to get together, but we can think of better ways.” However, workers for Hyatt and Hilton have already authorized strikes if the corporations refuse to meet their demands.

UNITE HERE! Local 483, has a list of “6 Basic Things” they are fighting for: to uphold union standards of affordable health care; to provide fair pay increases that meet cost of living in Monterey; to offer a decent pension; to discontinue harassment and intimidation by management towards new union recruits; the ability to work with sister unions nationally; and to address immigrant workforce issues, and institutionalize affirmative action hiring.

According to Norma Carrizosa, a Quail Lodge employee, “They can reduce costs by limiting management... most of them make twice as much as we do, and they do nothing!” Carrizosa is also currently suffering from a shoulder injury she attributes to her tough workload. “I've already been hurt, now they want to add 50 percent more rooms to our workloads plus take away our health care. They're trying to kill us! How do I pay for injuries I get from all this extra work with no health care?”

Many marchers such as Teresa Conner, one of the speakers and an employee at Hyatt for 27 years, pointed out that, San Francisco hotel workers get paid more, yet the rooms are less expensive. They also raised the issue that many of the hotels claim to be going broke even though there has been a record breaking increase in hotel revenue by eight percent in the past two years.

American Federation of Teachers, The Teamsters, and the Farm Worker's Union were a few of the organizations in attendance to support UNITE HERE!.

The Monterey Peninsula hotel workers have not been on strike for nearly 25 years. But, it seems after eight separate negotiation talks with Hyatt and Hilton there may be one coming soon. UNITE HERE! International President, John Wilhelm said he will take the message: “even though Local 483 and this community are smaller than New York and San Francisco they are tougher... and they are strong and proud,” back to the other hotel workers supporting speculation that this may became a nationwide strike against Hilton and Hyatt, which would then lead to smaller chains, that model their contracts after Hilton and Hyatt, striking as well.