"No Contract, No Inauguration!"

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

There was no business as usual at several downtown hotels yesterday, as lively picket lines sprouted in the unseasonably warm weather. At the Washington Hilton, over 100 hotel workers decked out in red shirts and white picket signs circled the Florida Avenue entrance, keeping up steady chants of "No Contract, No Inauguration!" and "You say Co-pay, we say No Way!"  Regular honks of support from passing trucks and taxicabs added to the din. Workers in the office building across the way showed their support with dozens of hand-made signs in the windows. While some simply said "We Support Hotel Workers," others echoed the picket line chants, warning visitors for next week’s $40-million-dollar inauguration that they may have to change their own sheets. Meanwhile, at the Capital Hill Holiday Inn, pickers carrying signs in multiple languages chanted “Overworked and underpaid, we refuse to be your maid!” - Mackenzie Baris