SF Board of Supervisors wants to intervene in 4 week long hotel worker strike

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- The strike at the San Jose Marriott and at seven other hotels in San Francisco involves about 2,700 union-represented employees. The lack of progress in negotiations has prompted San Francisco Supervisor Hillary Ronen to convene a special hearing on Friday.

Marriott International's president and CEO Arne Sorenson was invited but said he won't attend.

RELATED: 2,500 Marriott workers go on strike in San Francisco

Replacement workers are being bussed to San Francisco from Salinas and Modesto at $17 an hour, hired by a contractor. In San Jose, with 200 workers on the picket line, it appears managers are doing the work.

Sarah McDermott, a spokesperson, said, "A lot of management-level people from other hotels have been working here and also some temp workers."

A spokesperson for Marriott's corporate office did not respond to questions about business lost because of the strike, but Sonia Fabian, a 16 year Marriott employee, believes the San Jose hotel has been impacted.

"We heard the restaurants are closed. They're only serving breakfast for the elite guests, which are our regular guests. They are closed for lunch and dinner because all the servers are outside."

That was confirmed by Steve Busselman, a guest from St. Louis.

RELATED: South Bay Marriott Hotel workers on strike say Silicon Valley location is impacting their lives

"The restaurants are closed but they have a nice commissary there where you can get soft drinks and coffee and sandwiches and stuff. Not full service-- certainly still works."

The strikers are members of Unite Here Local 2 in San Francisco and Local 19 in San Jose. They include cooks, bus people, servers and housekeepers.

We asked Busselman who was getting his room ready tonight and he said, "That I don't know yet. This is my first night, so it'll be interesting to see what happens when I get back tonight."

Negotiations are continuing and the last talks for the San Jose Marriott were held on Tuesday. The next session is planned for some time next week.