Arrests, citations issued during protest at Hilton San Francisco

When the owners of the Hilton chain started renegotiating worker contracts, hotel workers took to the streets.

More than 100 hotel workers were cited last night during a demonstration outside the Hilton San Francisco, according to the San Franicsco’s BeyondChron, a local news website.

Owned by the Blackstone Group, the Hilton put forth proposals to cut starting wages by 25 percent for new hires. The matter of health care is on the table, too, and both sides are apparently at odds over proper coverage. A rally to protest the cuts and argue the current contracts took place last night, causing a minor raucous in the city of San Fran. More than 1,000 protestors blocked the main hotel entrance for several hours before 140 people were arrested for misdemeanor trespassing.

A union official said the workers included room cleaners, cooks, food servers, bellmen, bartenders and dishwashers, and they have been working without a contract since August. The San Francisco Hilton is the city’s largest hotel with 1900 rooms.

[via BeyondChron.com]