"Respect and Dignity" is the major theme of the contract campaign by Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees Local 99 at the Holiday Inn and Radisson Hotels in Duluth.

While wage and benefit improvements are important, treatment on the job is equally significant for the 200 workers, said Sam Carlson of Local 99.

"Both employers have been discriminatory and not evenhanded in their handling of discipline," he said. "Grievance handling has been poor at best. The only time things happen is when they're faced with arbitration."

Carlson said employees want respect for the service they perform at the hotels.

Talks between Local 99 and the Holiday Inn started March 15. The contract expires April 1.

The Radisson contract expires June 30 and negotiations have not yet been scheduled, the union said.

To kick off the contract campaign on March 15, Local 99 members participated in a rally and march from Duluth City Hall to the two hotels. More than 100 people took part.

This article was adapted from a report in the Duluth Labor World.