Local religious leaders are calling on parishes, congregations and synagogues to support hotel workers bogged down in a protracted labor dispute with hotel owners.

Latino clergy and Mexican, Salvadoran and other Central American organizations gathered at Our Lady Queen of Angels Church (La Placita) in downtown Los Angeles Oct. 1 to urge Latino organizations not to hold events at nine hotels involved in the dispute.

The Salvadoran American Leadership and Education Fund (SALEF) recently moved their annual fundraiser and awards dinner from the Wilshire Grand to the Center at Cathedral Plaza. The other hotels include the Westin Bonaventure, Hyatt Regency L.A., Hyatt West Hollywood, Millennium Biltmore, Sheraton Universal, Westin Century Plaza, St. Regis, and Regent Beverly Wilshire.

Religious leaders also encouraged communities to offer moral support by joining hotel workers at rallies and by donating food and funds for emergency relief to assist families in the event of a strike.

"These are the people from our own congregations we're supporting," said Father Mike Gutierrez, pastor of St. Anne Church in Los Angeles and president of Priests in Hispanic Ministry.

He also urged other workers not to apply for hotel replacement jobs in the event of a lockout or strike. While unemployed workers might feel the pressure to support their own families by applying for a replacement job, Father Gutierrez said faith asserts that solutions to one's problems shouldn't come at the expense of someone else.

"It's an issue of morality. Just because they are on strike doesn't mean you have the right to take that job," he said.

Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (www.cluela.org) is pre-organizing parishes, congregations and synagogue communities to walk in solidarity with workers on the picket lines should a strike take place.

"We want individuals and groups from the congregations to walk with these folks, encourage them, pray with them and bring them refreshments," said Rev. Dr. David Wheeler, a congregational organizer with CLUE and pastor of First Christian Church in Lancaster.

CLUE is also collecting food and household staples with its "Hungry for Justice" campaign. Hotel workers would receive only about $100 in strike pay from the union each week, making a strike a great hardship. Catholic churches currently sponsoring "Hungry for Justice" food bins include St. Anne in Santa Monica, St. Joseph in Hawthorne, and St. Thomas the Apostle and St. Vincent in Los Angeles.

Nearly 3,000 Los Angeles hotel workers have been working without a contract for six months. In dispute are wages, healthcare benefits, workloads and greater diversity in hiring practices. But the toughest issue is the length of the contract.

Unite Here wants a two-year agreement so that hotel contracts in many cities across the country line up to expire in 2006. The Los Angeles Hotel Employers Council has said talks are at an impasse until the union agrees to a five-year contract.

In San Francisco some 1,400 hotel workers went on strike at four hotels Sept. 29. Hotel owners responded by locking out some 2,600 workers out of 10 other hotels Oct. 1. Los Angeles workers have authorized Unite Here to call a strike if deemed necessary. So far the union continues to hold weekly rallies or press conferences with elected officials and community leaders, and workers have engaged in acts of civil disobedience like blocking traffic to create public awareness and put pressure on owners.

Rev. Wheeler said the current Los Angeles labor struggle illustrates the odds workers and local unions are up against in trying to negotiate with multi-national corporations.

Since the last contract was negotiated local hotel ownership has largely been replaced by multi-national ownership. Many of the hotels are now owned by corporate chains based in White Plains, N.Y. and Bethesda, Md. The chains are able to absorb the costs of a few of their hotels going on strike without having to negotiate with a local union on the other side of the country. The Hilton Hotels are based in Beverly Hills.

"There's a tremendous imbalance of power between working people and national and multi-national corporations," said Rev. Wheeler. "Workers are fighting for themselves and all of us. This struggle is ground zero for the proposition that folks who do honest and necessary work can make a living for themselves and their families."

He said faith communities have a role to play in urging both parties to negotiate in good faith.

"When religious communities get involved with underdogs in their midst, that's one way to level the playing field," said Rev. Wheeler. "Not that the union is perfect or without sin, but they are the weaker party."

People of faith offer a different perspective, he said. "We've got a power on our side that's greater than power of your union and greater than the power of management. It's the power of justice."