Clergymen Join Protest Over Union Contract Talks
Two clergymen were among a group of labor activists who were escorted out of the Bel-Air Hotel on Thursday after they urged patrons to support the hotel’s 240 union workers.
Five members of Clergy and Laity for Economic Justice visited the luxury hotel at noon to hand out leaflets and ask guests to support the union’s negotiations for a new contract with hotel management, said Rev. Richard Gillett, the minister for Social Justice of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles.
The group, which has made three other visits to the hotel, was ushered off the hotel grounds by security workers.
Local 11 of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union says its six-year contract expires May 15 and management has given no indication on whether it will be renewed.
Bel-Air Hotel manager Tony McHale said he is still waiting for the union to present management with a final contract.
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