LOS ANGELES - The state of discontent between union hotel workers of nine luxury hotels and hotel owners may soon be resolved if the two parties listen to city officials.  Last week, Mayor Hahn and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez expressed their hope that the two sides involved resolve their differences.  The urging is a result of the summer clash between the two parties over workers’ seeking better pension and health care benefits.  A two-year contract was also sought that would expire at the same time as contracts with hotels in other cities. 

   Unite Here Local 11, the Los Angeles union that represents thousands of the hotel workers, recently proposed a boycott against nine local hotels--Millennium Biltmore, Westin Bonaventure, Hyatt Regency, Wilshire Grand, Regent Beverly Wilshire, Century Plaza Hotel & Spa, St. Regis, Hyatt West Hollywood, and Sheraton Universal.  Last Thursday, the boycott was organized at the corner of Fifth and Flower Streets, near the Bonaventure Hotel.  Unite Here said that elected officials, clergy and community groups would show their solidarity by promising not to eat, hold meetings, or sleep at the hotels involved. 

   On the other side of the dispute, the Los Angeles Hotel Employers Council, which represents the hotel owners, had this to say on their website: “We previously wrote the Union a letter asking if the Union would change its position regarding a two-year contract.  The Union wrote back saying they are not prepared to compromise on the issue of a two-year contract.  We hope they will change their mind.  As we have told the Union, we will not be able to reach an agreement until the Union agrees to a longer contract.”  The hotel owners have offered a 20 percent salary increase over six years, as well as free health insurance.