Strike Threatens Rebound in San Francisco Tourism
Tourists have been flocking to San Francisco all summer, plunking down credit cards to cover rising room prices and filling hotels at the highest rate since 9/11 and the dot-com bust. But for the second time in two years, the city is bracing for a potential strike at 13 of its largest hotels that could cost millions in tourism dollars. Unite Here, the hotel workers' union, orchestrated many of its contracts in tourism-heavy cities to expire this year, giving the union a powerful strike threat. In recent weeks, workers in Honolulu, Chicago, Toronto and Monterey, Calif., also have voted to support a strike.
See "Strike Threatens Rebound in San Francisco Tourism", Kimi Yoshino, Los Angeles Times, September 7, 2006