Hoteliers keep wary eye on push to unionize tourism.

Local 11 of the Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees Union last week began what it said was an effort to organize all of Los Angeles County's hourly tourism-industry workers.

Union officials said the workers are underpaid, under-appreciated and generally treated as second-class citizens, and therefore need organized representation.

The immediate reaction among tourism-industry managers was noncommittal and they expressed reluctance to say anything negative about unions.

Les Benson, president of the Los Angeles County Hotel and Motel Group, a business organization that represents lodging facilities, declined to comment. "I don't want to say anything unless it's a positive story about Los Angeles," he said.

Tom Curley, general manager of the non-union Sheraton Grande hotel in downtown Los Angeles, said, "Here at the Sheraton it is up to the workers to decide about a union. Some Sheratons have unions, others don't. I'd rather not comment beyond that."

Randy Villareal, general manager of the unionized Biltmore hotel, which is also downtown, said so far the union movement is not a major issue among industry leaders.

"You can run a hotel without union workers or with union workers. It's just a part of doing business, so you have to cope with it and learn how to deal with it," he said.

The union began the effort last week with a series of staged events aimed at getting publicity for the campaign. Rallies by industry workers and current union members were held at such venues as the Los Angeles Convention Center, Los Angeles International Airport and in Little Tokyo.

Union officials did not predict whether the campaign will be successful nor release any goals for increased membership. But the campaign is expected to be a difficult one because Los Angeles, since the 1950s, has been largely a non-union metropolitan area.

The last time there was widespread union representation in the private sector was during World War II and immediately thereafter when many of the area's defense-plant workers were organized.

Local 11 said the immediate goal of the campaign is to unionize hourly workers at all of the luxury hotels in the greater Los Angeles area. Currently, the union represents hourly workers at nine hotels in downtown Los Angeles and along the Wilshire Corridor to Century City.

The organization's sister group, Local 814, represents workers at hotels in the LAX area and is also participating in the campaign, said Madeline Janis-Aparicio, community relations director for Local 11.

Ali Kasikci, the general manager of the deluxe, and non-union, Peninsula hotel in Beverly Hills, said he had not heard of the campaign. "My feeling is that if a hotel or any other business treats its employees well, then there is no need for a union and its workers probably wouldn't want one."

Janis-Aparicio said the union eventually wants to organize hourly workers at all tourism-related businesses, including amusement parks and attractions, restaurants, airports and transportation employees.

"Most of the people who work in hourly jobs at these places are immigrants. They are disempowered people who need better wages," Janis-Aparicio said. "They need a voice on the job and they need respect. Right now, they can't say anything on the job because they know that if they do, they're out on the street. There are stacks of applications from people who are waiting for these jobs."

The local tourism business is one of the county's biggest industries and annually pumps about $8.2 billion into the economy. It has recently started to recover after a three-year-long decline.

"The industry is in the middle of a rebound and our attitude is that it is time the industry present a new version of itself. It should work together and treat people with dignity," said Janis-Aparicio.

She said the union has met with city officials and tourism industry representatives about the campaign. So far, she said, the officials have not committed themselves to either supporting or rejecting the effort.

Michael Collins, senior vice president of the Los Angeles Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the union told the agency of its plans for the campaign in a 45-minute meeting with George Kirkland, the bureau president.

"It was a courtesy visit more than anything. We weren't asked to take any position or do anything," said Collins.

Among tourist industry managers, he said, the prospect of large-scale unionization of workers has not been a concern.

"It's not something that has come up before. But I can tell you that anything that can possibly increase operating costs will get their attention," said Collins.

Union representatives said there are about 500,000 workers in the tourism industry in Los Angeles County and about 10 percent of them are members of unions.

Local 11 officials claimed that in other major cities such as New York and San Francisco, up to 80 percent of tourism industry workers are unionized.