British rock star to join striking SF hotel workers

SAN FRANCISCO ( KRON ) — British musician Billy Bragg will join striking hotel workers on the picket lines in San Francisco’s Union Square Thursday, according to the union representing hotel and restaurant workers in the city. Bragg, who is due to make a tour stop at SF’s Palace of Fine Arts Thursday night, will perform songs on the picket line in solidarity with the workers’ struggle, a Union Rep at Unite Here Local 2 said.

About 1,500 hotel workers at the SF Grand Hyatt Union Square, Hilton San Francisco Union Square, and Westin St. Francis went on strike earlier this week. The indefinite strike is now in its fifth day, according to the union.

Thousands of other union members are also on strike in Honolulu and San Diego, the union said.

“If we accept the contract that they’re offering our lifestyle will go down,” said union member, Bill Fung, a houseman at the Hilton.

The strike includes housekeepers, bellhops, cooks, dishwashers, servers, bartenders, and other workers, the union said. Workers are protesting what they say are painful workloads and wages that aren’t up to the cost of living in the Bay Area.

Bragg, 66, is a native of Essex, England. The singer/songwriter is known for his activist politics and draws influence from punk rock and traditional folk artists like Woody Guthrie. Over a career spanning more than four decades, he has collaborated with a wide range of artists including Paul Weller, Kirsty MacColl and the band, Less Than Jake.

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