John Edwards, Danny Glover rally

Former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) and actor Danny Glover rallied hundreds of people in support of 1.3 million hotel workers, most of who remain below the poverty line, as 18 cities prepare to collectively negotiate contracts with multi-national hotel chains such as the Grand Hyatt and the Hilton.

Edwards said that hotel workers, along with people in other industries in the country, often remain beneath the poverty line.

"One of the great disgraces of our country is that a vast new impoverished population has developed in our midst," he wrote. "These are the Americans who work extremely hard, yet they still are unable to make ends meet, even as they work at two or three jobs," said Edwards.

A standing-room-only crowd at the Ritz-Carlton Grand Ballroom on Saturday welcomed Edwards and Glover in a kickoff event for the Unite Here Hotel Workers Rising campaign that works draw attention to the plight of hotel workers across the country.

With the slogan "Lifting each other above the poverty line," Unite Here appeals to hotel workers, many of whom are immigrants or minorities, to join with each other and community activists to earn middle-class wages. Unite Here unionized 60,000 of the 1.3 million workers hotel workers in the nation, according to a release.

The hotel industry has earned huge profits while consolidating the market into fewer and larger multinational chains, according to the release, but the average wage for hotel housekeepers remains at $8.67 per hour nationally, according to Unite Here officials.

Jennifer Doe, an organizer for Massachusetts Jobs with Justice, a group supporting the movement, explained how Unite Here's initiative would improve hotel workers wages and working conditions.

"This is kind of a new strategy," Doe said. "What they're going to do is unite all of the cities to bargain collectively."

"Eighteen cities are going to be collectively negotiating their contracts with hotels. Boston is one of the cities and what that means is that tens of thousands of hotel workers are going to be fighting back against big multi-national hotel chains, such as Hilton and Ritz," she continued.

By unionizing hotel workers across the country, Doe said the workers will have greater power.

2006 is expected to be the biggest year yet for collective bargaining amongst hotel workers and their employers, according to the Chicago Sun-Times published earlier this month.

Edwards and Glover said they are touring the country to get their message out, and Edwards said galvanize the hotel workers.

"Danny and I have taken this campaign from San Francisco to Los Angeles to Chicago and now to the great city of Boston," Edwards said. "And we are going to win."

Some organizers and hotel workers were turned away at the door as the Ballroom was packed past capacity, with 600 people gathered inside. A group of about 70, some of whom had traveled from Philadelphia and New York City, waited on the sidewalks until Edwards and Glover emerged to address campaign supporters outside.

The Unite Here Hotel Workers Rising Campaign is an effort to improve conditions for hotel workers by forming unions and organizing multi-city negotiations. According to the group's informational release, hotel housekeepers are rushed to finish a strenuous job and meet a daily quota for room cleaning, and have some of the highest injury rates in the service industry.