After six weeks of fruitless negotiations, the San Francisco hotel workers union, UNITE 2, has called for a two-week strike against a number of local hotels. The boycott is against the San Francisco Multi-Employer Group, which includes the Argent Hotel, the Hilton San Francisco, the Crowne Plaza Union Square and the Mark Hopkins Inter-Continental (SFist will definitely be moving its staff meeting from its traditional location of the Top of the Mark). The picture above is from the hotel workers' Labor Day protest, where 150 people were arrested.

San Francisco officials are worried that this strike will hurt our tentatively-rebounding tourism industry, which is still reeling from the sucker-punches of 9/11 and the dot.com decline. Talks broke down last week, over what the protestors claim are low wages and high benefit costs, and them wanting to set a contract schedule in sync with the rest of the country's hotel workers, so they can all negotiate for renewals together. The owners, for their part, have filed a complaint of unfair labor practices against the union, claiming that its members were negotiating in bad faith, already sent out ads for scab workers, and begun boarding up their windows, for fear of vandalism. SFist hopes everyone can work something out -- we have friends coming into town soon and we need a place to put them!