Contracts covering more than 1,400 Seattle-area hotel and restaurant workers have expired and UNITEHERE!Local 8 has mounted a campaign of actions across the region to call on management to negotiate fair contracts that provide livable wages, job security and respect on the job.

More rallies are planned in coming weeks after last week’s kickoff event, when some 200 workers and supporters rallied in front of the Westin Hotel, one of the hotels with expired contracts. (See video above).

“Hotel workers can sometimes seem invisible,” says Erik Van Rossum, secretary-treasurer of Local 8.

They create luxury in Seattle’s hotels by cleaning the rooms, washing the dishes, and cooking the food, among other thankless jobs. But now they are standing up with one voice to demand respect and fairness.

During the recession, hotels have remained profitable through a combination of layoffs, decreased work schedules and increased workloads for staff. According to industry projections, hotels will return to record profit levels by 2012.

Two weeks ago, hotel and restaurant workers from the Doubletree and Hilton hotels in SeaTac, who also are working without contracts, presented a petition to management putting them on alert that they are ready to fight for better wages, benefits and working conditions.

They were joined by representatives of the Washington State Labor Council, King County Jobs with Justice, Working Washington and the Puget Sound Alliance for Retired Americans.