UNITE HERE, the union representing over 90,000 hotel workers in North America announced today that veteran gay rights and AIDS activist Cleve Jones has been named national liaison to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Jones, 51, has been a prominent activist since the late 1970s when he worked with pioneer gay leader Harvey Milk. He is best known as the originator and founder of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt.

UNITE HERE is the merged union of the Union of Needletrade, Industrial and Textile Employees and the Hotel and Restaurant Employees International Union. The Hotel Workers Rising campaign represents an effort to empower thousands of hotel workers in hundreds of hotels across North America as they struggle to improve their jobs and secure better lives for themselves and their families. According to John Wilhelm, president of the hospitality division of the union, "We are very pleased to have Cleve Jones on board, he has a remarkable history of accomplishments and we are eager to work in coalition with the LGBT community." Wilhelm added, "This campaign seeks to transform low-wage work into decent jobs that give people the opportunity to make it into the middle class." After decades of declining union membership, the Hotel Workers Rising campaign has the potential to be a historic turning point for America's labor movements, uniting workers across the United States and Canada to secure better wages and health care benefits. Kickoff rallies for the campaign last month featured appearances by former U.S. Senator John Edwards, actor Danny Glover and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom.

"I am honored to be even a small part of this important campaign," said Cleve Jones. "The LGBT community has many reasons to support the workers' efforts. Their demands are just, thousands of members of our community work in the hotel industry and the union representing the workers has a long history of substantive support for LGBT candidates and causes, including nondiscrimination employment policies and groundbreaking benefits for HIV-positive workers."

Major hotel contracts expire this year in Toronto, New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Honolulu and Chicago. San Francisco workers have been without a contract since 2004. In the past few years, hotel workers have worked hard to line up their contract expirations, giving them more leverage in their negotiations with the multinational hotel corporations. Their ambitious campaign to lift hotel workers out of poverty has already met with resistance from the industry. There is a great deal of concern that the hotel corporations will force workers to strike, or even lock them out like they did in 2004 in San Francisco. "LGBT travelers should be aware that many hotels may be on strike this summer," said Jones, noting that some 20 million people are expected to participate in this year's pride celebrations and street fairs. "Our community is a significant market for the hotel operators, our support for the union can make a real difference."

Visit www.hotelworkersrising.org for more information.