Workers at the Congress Hotel haven't had a contract in six years. As of 12 hours ago, neither do 6,000 of their union colleagues throughout the city.

A three-year contract covering UNITE-HERE Local 1 workers at 30 downtown hotels expired at midnight yesterday and negotiations with management for the three major operators (Hyatt, Hilton, and Starwood) are still in the early stages. The past two contracts, negotiated in 2002 and again in 2006, have provided affordable health care and almost doubled wages for Chicago's unionized hotel employees, who now make $14.60 per hour. (Workers at the Congress, by contrast, earn an average of just $8.21.) The sticking point this time around is the poor shape of the economy, which has limited the hotel industry's growth since the beginning of 2008.

Local 1 officials understand that margins have tightened over the past three years. But the union argues that the industry is using the recession as an excuse to trim its workforce and increase overtime for those still employed. For example, 19 percent of the staff at the Hyatt Regency was fired between November 2008 and March. Over the same period, 46 percent of staff had to work extra hours, according to the union. "If I were them, I might do the same thing, but that's not the point," says Local 1 President Henry Tamarin. "While they maintain services, our members are working harder and longer." At a press conference outside of the hotel today, Hyatt employee Francine Jones, who has worked at the Hyatt for 18 years, talked about the stress these extra hours are putting on her and her family. Watch it:

Also, it's important to remember that hotel employees enter into multi-year contracts with their employers. Cutting into benefits and wages now assumes that business will continue to suffer beyond 2010, a projection the union rejects. After all, the industry made $200 billion in profits in the last 10 years and experienced healthy growth between 2003-2007, the period that followed the September 11 terrorist attacks.

In the four meetings held between the two parties, Tamarin says the only thing on the table is "take-aways." While they have no defined bottom line and would not discuss specifics with reporters, Local 1 is hoping to secure wage and benefit increases as well as protections against forced overtime and layoffs. If negotiations continue to stall -- the two sides have two more negotiation dates scheduled, according to the Sun-Times -- workers could take action. "There are no current plans to strike. The goal is to avoid one," says Tamarin. "But our members will entertain the idea if no progress is made."

Stay tuned.