WORLD PROPERTY CHANNEL ®

(CHICAGO, IL) -- Strike plans by 21,000 hotel workers in Chicago and 3,000 workers in San Francisco are being reviewed today as union contracts expired with no quick settlement date in sight, according to union officials.

The contracts for 31 hotels expired Aug. 31.

Workers at Starwood Hotels in Chicago were scheduled to vote on strike plans this week, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Annemarie Strassel

Health insurance and overtime pay are the roadblocks to a quick settlement, sources for both sides agree.

Annemarie Strassel, spokesperson for United Here Local 1, told the Tribune contract negotiations  are "very, very far from settlement."

"Things have gotten really bad," says Strassel.   "I think that employers see the bad economy as an opportunity to ram through proposals."

The Tribune says Unite Here has targeted Chicago-based Hyatt after the chain fired 98 non-union Boston hotel workers this September and outsourced the work to lower-paid employees from a company in Georgia.

Park Hyatt Chicago

The same month, nearly 195 Unite Here workers and community supporters were arrested at the Park Hyatt Chicago near Michigan Avenue in a protest against hotel cutbacks.

Representatives for workers in Long Beach, CA., San Antonio, TX and Indianapolis, IN are also considering authorizing strike plans, Strassel says.

This year, as in the last contract negotiations in 2006, the union has chosen to negotiate with the large hotel chains separately, rather than as a unified group through the Hotel Employers Labor Relations Association (HELRA).

John Schafer

John Schafer, vice president, managing director for Hyatt Regency Chicago, said Hyatt has been diligent in meeting with the union but that negotiations are taking longer because of the arrangement, according to the Tribune.

Arnie Karr, chief operating officer at HELRA, who has been sitting in on union negotiations with the Hilton, Hyatt and Starwood chains, says a group of smaller hotels is waiting to see how the talks pan out and likely would adopt similar agreements. The main sticking point, he said, is health insurance.

Contracts proposed by the Starwood and Hyatt chains, Strassel says, would render up to 50 percent of workers ineligible for health insurance. Costs for coverage for the remaining group would increase significantly. "Our folks are housekeepers and dishwashers."

Hyatt Regency Chicago

Schafer at Hyatt Regency Chicago, says union employees with salaries starting at $30,000 for housekeeper have never had to "pay a penny" for health insurance.

"We want our people to have health insurance, we want it to be affordable. With the huge increases in costs over the last 10 years, we're just saying it's time to look at the things a bit differently," he says.

The Tribune says the union is also concerned about overtime. Hyatt laid off about  19 percent of its staff at the Hyatt Regency between November 2008 and March 2009.

Between December 2008 and April 2009, the same hotel scheduled 46 percent of its staff for overtime, according to the union. Schafer says overtime at the hotel is no higher than it was last year.

The Union lists 19 Chicago hotels at "risk of dispute," and several Chicago-based Hyatt hotels are on the union's list to "boycott."

"The company has made record profits over the last decade," Strassel said of Hyatt. "And of course now that they're going public,  they're going to be flooded with cash and they're telling workers at the table it's a bad economy."

The Pritzker family; which owns 85 percent of the Hyatt hotel chain; stands to gain $900 million from a proposed initial public offering of 38 million shares, according to the Tribune.

The chain itself won't receive proceeds from the proposed stock sale, according to the latest prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company's profits are down from last year, but the chain holds little debt, SEC filings show.

Thomas J. Pritzke

Thomas J. Pritzker is chairman of Global Hyatt Corp. and also chairman and CEO of The Pritzker Organization. He is also the only other family member on the Pritzker Family Trust  board besides Penny Pritzker, a cousing to Thomas J. Pritzker.

"If there's work to be done, why aren't we bringing people back to work?" Strassel says. "Of course, it's because the (Hyatt) company wants to avoid paying health care benefits."

A Hilton spokesman was not available to comment on the Chicago negotiations but a statement from Hilton said the chain has a long history of constructive and cooperative relationships with labor unions, according to the Tribune.

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