San Francisco Hotel Workers Remain on Strike

Hotel workers in San Francisco are continuing to picket outside the Grand Hyatt hotel in Union Square Saturday, the third and final day of the work stoppage.

Hundreds of workers are outside the building on the 300 block of Stockton Street near Union Square, carrying signs and chanting.

Members of the Unite Here Local 2 say hotel management is proposing unreasonable reductions in health and retirement benefits.

Officials with the Grand Hyatt San Francisco released a statement saying that they were disappointed that "after only five bargaining sessions the union has decided to engage in disruptive and counterproductive action instead of trying to achieve progress at the negotiating table."

The union represents about 12,000 employees in the hospitality industry in San Francisco and on the Peninsula, including room cleaners, cooks, food servers, bellmen, bartenders and dishwashers. The workers are expected to return to work Sunday morning, but are calling on customers to honor an ongoing boycott of the hotel. Union workers at other San Francisco hotels remain on the job, but job actions elsewhere still remain a possibility.

Negotiations have been going on for more than two months, and workers have been without a contract since Aug. 14.