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San Francisco police said they arrested 41 adults on Friday for blocking streets and refused to cooperate with police in front of the Marriott Marquis at a rally of unionists.
The rally drew hundreds of strike workers from Marriott hotels on 4th and Mission streets on Friday afternoon. Workers took to the streets after more than a week of strikes demanding higher wages, workplace safety and job security. Contract negotiations are still underway, said Ted Waechter, a spokesman for Unite Here Local 2 of the Bay Area.
Getting off the sidewalk to the pavement in front of the Marriott Marquis was an act of "peaceful mass civilian disobedience," according to union officials, who said 60 people had been arrested.
After the act of disobedience, hotel employees and their supporters returned to the sidewalk, where they remained after 18 hours. Friday.
Candida Kevorkian, a cleaning lady at the Marriott Westin St. Francis, was one of the people arrested, union representatives said.
"I was arrested for the same reason that I have been on strike for nine days – one job should be enough for hotel workers like me," Kevorkian said. "My job at Marriott is not enough to pay the rent. Three generations of my family have to share an apartment.
The San Francisco police blocked the road under normal traffic conditions for part of the evening by arresting individuals, putting their hands in a wrist restraint while the officers searched their bodies and their belongings.
The demonstrators applauded their colleagues as they were stopped and searched by agents.
Anand Singh, President of Local Unite Here 2, said the negotiations were not close to a resolution.
"We will go on strike until the Marriott Hotel employees are no longer forced to work two or three people, even if they worked for the largest hotel company in the world", said Singh.
As part of the mass strikes, nearly 2,500 workers left their jobs last week at seven Marriott hotels in downtown San Francisco.
Lauren Hernandez is a writer at the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @LaurenPorFavor
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