By Nancy Cleeland Times Staff Writer
Los Angeles Times - June 24, 2004 http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-fi-hotels24jun24,1,3423997.story?coll=la-home-local
High-stakes negotiations between Los Angeles-area hotels and the hotel workers union have broken down, as national chains like Hyatt and Sheraton resist the union's novel plan to line up contract expiration dates across the country, opening the door to a national strike.
Union leaders, who want contracts in 10 major cities to expire in 2006, say that kind of clout - and the threat of a potentially disruptive nationwide walkout in two years - would allow them to substantially drive up wages and benefits for housekeepers, bellboys and banquet servers.
Hotel attorney Ken Ballard said the industry, which is pulling out of a three-year slump, was not about to hand over that kind of power.
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