Labor Day protest rally targets 2 Fisherman's Wharf hotels

Arturo Marquez, who works at the Hotel Vitale, marches with other hotel workers and labor leaders at the Hyatt Fisherman's Wharf. Arturo Marquez, who works at the Hotel Vitale, marches with other hotel workers and labor leaders at the Hyatt Fisherman's Wharf. Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 19 Caption Close Labor Day protest rally targets 2 Fisherman's Wharf hotels 1 / 19 Back to Gallery

Hundreds of union supporters celebrated Labor Day by marching from San Francisco's Pier 39 to the Hyatt Fisherman's Wharf, a nonunion hotel that labor officials say is one of the last holdouts in a city filled with organized hotels.

The marchers, representing about a dozen unions, came out to support Unite-Here Local 2's efforts over the past six years to represent the Hyatt hotel workers.

"We have been struggling for many years to have a fair process where the workers can select a union, free of intimidation," said Mike Casey, president of Local 2, adding that about 95 percent of the hotels in San Francisco are under contract or close to a settlement.

"Labor Day is an opportunity to celebrate not only where we come from, but where we're going," he said.

Carrying signs reading "Sleep with the right people" and chanting "No checking in - check out!" the union supporters worked their way slowly through Fisherman's Wharf, stopping at other hotels to make their presence known, including Pier 2620, where union officials said contract negotiations in recent months have slowed.

But they reserved their loudest voices for the Hyatt Fisherman's Wharf, where they called for a boycott of the nonunion hotel. Unite-Here Local 2 has also called for a boycott of the nonunion Le Meridien San Francisco. Both hotels are owned by Chesapeake Lodging Trust, a real estate investment trust based in Annapolis, Md.

Officials from the Hyatt declined to comment, and a call to the real estate trust office was not returned.

Arturo Marquez, who has been a cook at San Francisco's Hotel Vitale for nine years, said he was more than happy to spend part of his Labor Day marching for the rights of his fellow hotel workers. "Almost everybody has a family to support," he said. "We want everybody to have the same."

Monday's demonstrators were predominantly members of various unions, including the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the South Bay's UA Local Union 393, Plumbers, Steamfitters and Refrigeration Fitters.

"I want to show my support for the workers of Local 2, who have to fight very hard for dignity and respect," said Keith Pavlik, a UCSF employee representing University Professional and Technical Employees Communications Workers of America, Local 9119.

"It's important to be here in solidarity with our brothers and sisters," said Denise Solis, vice president with Service Employees International United Service Workers West, which represents janitors and security workers. "The Bay Area has become so expensive to live in, and the uneven distribution of wealth is unbelievable."

At the Fisherman's Wharf Hyatt, the demonstrators chanted in front of the entrance behind a row of police bicycles, blocking the garage where guests were waiting to exit for about 20 minutes.

Several hotel guests with luggage scurried away through the sides of the police barriers, declining to comment.

One guest, who did not give his name, said the hotel had forewarned them about the protest. He said he didn't care about the labor dispute. "I just like that they gave us cookies," he said of the hotel staff.