by Francine Knowles

Unionized workers at Hilton Hotels Corp. in Chicago ratified a new three-year contract that boosts the wages of room attendants nearly 21 percent, reduces work loads and makes it easier to organize workers, Unite Here said Thursday.

The agreement calls for an immediate wage increase of $1.10 an hour for room attendants, who previously made $12.10 an hour. The attendants, the biggest job classification at the hotels, will get an additional 70 cents an hour increase in each of the second and third years of the contract, Unite Here spokesman Lars Negstad said.

The union, which had pushed for changes in work load amid increased room amenities, also won reductions in daily room quotas for room attendants on heavy check-out days.

The pact affects 2,300 room attendants, dishwashers, bell staff, restaurant workers and other employees at the Hilton Chicago, the Drake, the Palmer House Hilton and the Hilton O'Hare Airport.

Under the agreement, secret ballot union elections will not be required to organize workers at new hotels built or managed here by Hilton, and the company will remain neutral in organizing campaigns. A simple card check by a majority of workers will be all that's needed for Unite Here to successfully organize workers at Hilton Hotels under the deal. That's a first in a collective bargaining agreement for Unite Here at hotels in Chicago, Negstad said.

The agreement "represents a significant step forward on behalf of our members," said Unite Here Local 1 President Henry Tamarin. It includes a new vision plan, expands dental coverage and triples the pay of workers on disability leave to $225 a week.

"We are pleased that the union has ratified this agreement, which rewards our team members and allows our hotels to remain competitive," said Hilton spokesman Robert Allegrini.

Unite Here Locals 1 and 450 represent 7,000 workers at 26 hotels, most in the Loop. The union has engaged in separate contract negotiations with various hotels. Talks with Starwood Hotels & Resorts in Chicago are at a standstill. Workers there and at the Allerton Crowne Plaza will vote Monday on whether to authorize a strike.

A tentative contract agreement was reached Sunday with Chicago-based Hyatt Hotels Corp. affecting 1,900 workers. A vote by the workers has not yet been scheduled. The Hyatt agreement is substantially the same as the Hilton deal, according to the union.

While pleased with the Hyatt settlement, Unite Here staged a rally downtown Thursday to protest the lack of progress in Hyatt contract talks in Honolulu and Monterrey and San Francisco, Calif. In San Francisco, Hyatt locked out workers at two properties two years ago for nearly two months.