are taking care of themselves as well. congratulations, everybody. congratulations to the city of san francisco, too. >> we'll have the team members. i just like to say on behalf of the mayor and local team members, this deal is good for city of san francisco. it takes care of our team members, it takes care of our guest. but what's going on, the building, construction, the new companies coming to the city, our goal is to welcome them and if we have labor peace, we have a positive contract for our team members, they will feel comfortable coming in time and time again. if anyone hasn't seen the cranes coming into the city, we want to welcome them as well, the hilton san francisco union

square. we want to welcome them and be a part of it and the city. thank you. >> i'm mike casey, president of the united local, i want to thank you mayor for the leadership in not just creating and bringing new jobs to san francisco but making sure they are good jobs, quality jobs, where workers can retire in dignity for their families. mr. mayor you have been showing that leadership since you have been appointed. we want to encourage you in advancing those principles. thanks very much. and then to the hilton, mike an did dunne and the leadership who took a chance here. they took quite a rest while the rest of the industry was actually preparing for a major war with our union over the course of the next, what

would have been probably the next year or two, the hilton corporation said maybe there is a way we can avoid the drama and turmoil that is brought to this city all too frequently because of concessionary bargaining that some employers try to impose on the union. so, after several months we have reached an early agreement, our contract doesn't expire until august 2013, so the hilt on and our union reached and agreement. i think this shows a commitment to go the highroad. often there are too many hotels in this city that want to go the low road, the meridian and the hyatt corporation have been

notorious for the way they treat their workers. mike dunne has shown corporations there is a better way of guaranteeing customer service and for workers that provide that customer service. this contract provides three things: no. 1, addresses food and beverage issues that is going to be an issue with this hotel where we have to get some of those under control and make sure those restaurants are successful. no. 2, this agreement strengthens and secure our job provision in the contract. strengthens the language called success or ship

which guarantees the workers keep their contract and jobs. no. 3, most importantly what it does is provide within the term of the contract in each of the next 5 years, the right for the union and the hotel to make sure that workers are going to get fully paid health care, pension, spare wages. the way that that will come about is we have negotiated $6.92 for the term of the contract that averages about 4 percent each year of the agreement. the way the agreement operates is the union will convene meetings with our rank and file leadership each year and prior to july 14th of each year, the leadership after following up on meetings with our members will determine how much money is appropriate for health care, how much money is appropriated to other benefits, how much

money will be appropriated for pension and how much money will be allocated for wages. so, this contract secures all those things, but above all else what it does is it allows our union in 6 cities toronto, boston, chicago, los angeles, hawaii and san francisco, it gives those 6 cities where we have labor peace. this is a 6-city coordinated effort where we have negotiated with the hilton corporation for a 5 year agreement that will allow all those cities and elsewhere to focus on the unorganized. there are thousands of workers that do this work. unfortunately those workers don't have health care for their families, those workers don't have a pension or

retirement security and are often minimum wage. this allows to us focus our energies and resources to give them the kind of voice that workers and union properties have. that's the main reason why this local too has embraced this effort and i want to thank the rank and file hilton.99 percent workers voted to ratify this. thank you for being here. [ applause ] >> what i want to do is introduce amy wong who is a room cleaner, she's one of the leaders of the hotel, jacob is going to speak, he's a doorman and guadalupe chavez who is a room cleaner and a member of

our executive board. >> hello, my name is amy win. i have worked as a housekeeper for many years. health insurance is the most important part of the contract for all of us. first this contract we can keep our family health care. now that we hilton workers have a great contract, we are going to start with the other hotel workers in san francisco to make sure their union is strong. thank you. >> my name is jacob, i'm a doorman for the last 22 years. thank you for all coming for this great event. thank you,

mike, for putting this contract, finish earlier than we thought. thank you very much. we appreciate that. as you know our health care, now the health care is available with other benefits so we can have our time to organize our members which can make us stronger without any problem. thank you. we are really happy. it's very important now we are going to stand the same idea which is our goal to improve our service. we have no problem over this. thank you for all coming here. [ applause ] >> hi, my name is guadalupe chavez. i have been working here for 32 years. as a worker

in the local too, we have a lot of struggles, many long struggles to have a good contract. that's the reason to have a standard for another hotels. that is today i'm happy to have a good contract and with our contract, it benefits security wages we have a vision and we can organize another union hotels. this is going to be the no. 1 because they have the same right to have the same benefits and rights that we have. thank you very much to be here and thank you, mike. we appreciate it. thank you mike casey. we love everybody. [ applause ] i would like to thank

everybody for coming today. especially the team members. we truly appreciate it. we are going to open up for questions. if anyone has any questions? >> we are in the process of talking to other hotels right now. we've already initiated some talks with the fair mount corporation and we are optimistic about that and we are also going to be reaching out very soon to the star wood corporation which has 4 hotels and marriott which also has 4. we are going to be starting with marriott, fair mount and star wood and the other corporations that have large

presence here in san francisco. >> this is a pattern that we have set and hopefully they will see what we have without a struggle. over the course of 2004-2011 during that 7 year span, the members of local 2 were engaged in constant struggle for those years, we had strikes, lock outs, boycotts, the industry was in quite a turmoil. it's quite a turn around when you look at those years, we had fights with almost every hotel in this city for 4 of those 7 years. in 2011 when we settled, that started to set a different pattern. the

hilton showed leadership at that time and we are still dealing with the contract from the 2007 settlement. this will start us on the next phase. >> i thought it seemed familiar. >> the workers packet, where it goes [inaudible] >> we have several unions that that's the way it works at this point. it's not unique to say. it's something different that we've done . i think over the last years with our contract between the hotels and here in the city but other unions that work in this building and in

the city, that's a pretty common practice. in our union, we have not used it very often. we've only used it with a handful of employers in san francisco. but, kind of industry wide city agreements we have not done this except maybe if you go back 15-20 years ago there might have been handful. the reason that it's so critical right now is because of the uncertain nature of what's going to happen with health care. with the affordable care act coming in next year and the exchanges which will provide that health care for millions of californians who don't have health care right now, it's expected that the health care industry is going to be changing quite a bit and we are not sure exactly, it's very impossible to predict what

that's going to do. if you poll our members, the number 1 issue is health care for our members and retirees. that is the no. 1 issue in our considerations in our discussions over the course of each year and our members will make those determinations as to what the priorities are and whether or not more money should be allocated to health care or wages or pension or health care, wages come first. that's going to be their decision. >> can you talk about the success or ship language? >> yes. what it does is two things. it improves our security when a hotel transfers with relation to

subcontracting. new owners can't come in and subcontract which we've got problems with other cities outside of california. although increasingly it's happening in california too. the hyatt corporation is a champion of this. they contract subworkers. they through in boston a hundred workers out on the street and replaced them with temporary workers at minimum wage. this is a problem we sometimes see some hotel companies doing when a company changes hands. so a, it protects us against an event of a sale and strengthens the language with regard to bankruptcy. it suspends the no contract law. if we need to fight a company or hotel and

strike in the middle of the contract to protect our jobs, we have the ability to do that. the no strikes clause notwithstanding. >> okay. if there are no other questions, i would like to thank everyone for coming today. we look forward to the next five years, mike. [ applause ]

(music) >> herb theatre,open rehearsal. listen to the rehearsal. i think it is fun for them, they see our work process, our discussions, the decisions we make. it is good for us. we kind of behavior little bit when we have people in the audience. msk (music) >> we are rehearsing for our most expensive tour; plus two concerts here. we are proud that the growth of the orchestra, and how it is expanded and it is being accepted.

my ambition when i came on as music director here -- it was evident we needed absolutely excellent work. also evident to me that i thought everyone should know that. this was my purpose. and after we opened, which was a spectacular opening concert about five weeks after that the economy completely crashed. my plan -- and i'm absolutely dogmatic about my plans --were delayed slightly. i would say that in this very difficult timefor the arts and everyone, especially the arts, it's phenomenal how new century has grown

where many unfortunate organizations have stopped. during this period we got ourselves on national radio presence; we started touring, releasing cds, a dvd. we continue to tour. reputation grows and grows and grows and it has never stopped going forward. msk(music) >> the bay area knows the orchestra. you maybe take things for granted a little bit. that is simply not the case will go on the road. the audiences go crazy. they don't see vitality like this on stage. we are capable of conveying joy when we play. msk(music) >> any performance that we do, that a program,

that will be something on the program that you haven't heard before. string orchestra repertoire is pretty small. i used to be boxed into small repertoire. i kept constantly looking for new repertoire and commissioning new arrangements. if you look at the first of the program you have very early, young vibrant mendelson; fabulous opener and then you have this fabulous concerto written for us in the orchestra. is our gift. msk(music) >> and then you have strauss, extraordinary piece. the most challenging of all. string orchestra work.

23 solo instrument, no violin section, now viola section; everybody is responsible for their part in this piece. the challenge is something that i felt not only that we could do , absolutely could do, but i wanted to show off. i can't tell you how aware i am of the audience. not only what i hear but their vibes, so strong. i have been doing this for a long time. i kind of make them feel what i want them to feel. there is nobody in that audience or anywhere that is not going to know that particular song by the fourth note.

and that is our encore on tour. by the way. i am proud to play it, we are from san francisco. we are going to play that piece no matter where we are. >> welcome to "culturewire." today we are at recology. they are celebrate 20 years of one of the most incredibly unique artist residency programs. we are here to learn more from one of the resident artists.

welcome to the show, deborah. tell us how this program began 20 years ago. >> the program began 20 years ago. our founder was an environmentalist and an activist and an artist in the 1970's. she started these street sweeping campaigns in the city. she started with kids. they had an exhibition at city hall. city officials heard about her efforts and they invited her to this facility. we thought it would coincide with our efforts to get folks to recycle, it is a great educational tool. since then, we have had 95 professional artists come through. >> how has the program changed over the years? how has the program -- what can the public has an artist engage with? >> for the most part, we worked with metal and wood, what you

would expect from a program like ours. over the years, we tried to include artists and all types of mediums. conceptual artists, at installation, photographers, videographers. >> that has really expanded the program out. it is becoming so dynamic right now with your vision of interesting artists in gauging here. why would an artist when to come here? >> mainly, access to the materials. we also give them a lot of support. when they start, it is an empty studio. they go out to the public area and -- we call it the big store. they go out shopping, take the materials that, and get to work. it is kind of like a reprieve, so they can really focus on their body of work. >> when you are talking about recology, do you have the only

sculpture garden at the top? >> it is based on work that was done many years ago in new york. it is the only kind of structured, artist program. weit is beautiful. a lot of the plants you see were pulled out of the garbage, and we use our compost to transplant them. the pathway is lined with rubble from the earthquake from the freeways we tour about 5000 people a year to our facility, adults and children. we talk about recycling and conservation. they can meet the artists. >> fantastic. let's go meet some of your current artists. here we are with lauren. can you tell us how long have been here so far and what you're working on? >> we started our residency on

june 1, so we came into the studio then and spent most of the first couple weeks just digging around in the trash. i am continuing my body of work, kind of making these hand- embroidered objects from our day-to-day life. >> can you describe some of the things you have been making here? this is amazing. >> i think i started a lot of my work about the qualities of light is in the weight. i have been thinking a lot about things floating through the air. it is also very windy down here. there is a piece of sheet music up there that i have embroidered third. there is a pamphlet about hearing dea -- nearing death. this is a dead rabbit. this is what i am working on now. this is a greeting card that i found, making it embroidered. it is for a very special friend.

>> while we were looking at this, i glanced down and this is amazing, and it is on top of a book, it is ridiculous and amazing. >> i am interested in the serendipity of these still life compositions. when he got to the garbage and to see the arrangement of objects that is completely spontaneous. it is probably one of the least thought of compositions. people are getting rid of this stuff. it holds no real value to them, because they're disposing of it. >> we're here in another recology studio with abel. what attracted you to apply for this special program? >> who would not want to come to the dump? but is the first question. for me, being in a situation that you're not comfortable in has always been the best. >> what materials were you immediately attracted to when you started and so what was available here?

>> there are a lot of books. that is one of the thing that hits me the most. books are good for understanding, language, and art in general. also being a graphic designer, going straight to the magazines and seeing all this printed material being discarded has also been part of my work. of course, always wood or any kind of plastic form or anything like that. >> job mr. some of the pieces you have made while you have been here. -- taught me through some of the pieces you have made while you have been here. >> the first thing that attracted me to this was the printed surface. it was actually a poster. it was a silk screen watercolor, about 8 feet long. in terms of the flatwork, i work with a lot of cloddish. so being able to cut into it come at into it, removed parts, it is part of the process of negotiating the final form. >> how do you jump from the two

dimensional work that you create to the three-dimensional? maybe going back from the 3f to 2d. >> everything is in the process of becoming. things are never said or settled. the sculptures are being made while i am doing the collages, and vice versa. it becomes a part of something else. there's always this figuring out of where things belong or where they could parapets something else. at the end goal is to possibly see one of these collage plans be built out and create a structure that reflects back into the flat work. >> thank you so much for allowing "culturewire" to visit this amazing facility and to learn more about the artists in residence program. is there anything you like our viewers to know? >> we have art exhibitions every four months,