About three-fourths of the 3,000 housekeepers, bellmen and other workers at nine prominent Los Angeles hotels took part in the vote Monday, and union spokesman Danny Feingold said Tuesday that 83 percent of them chose to authorize a strike. No date was set for a walkout.

In Washington, about 94 percent of 2,100 workers voted Monday to authorize a strike, said John Boardman, secretary-treasurer of the union in that city. The labor contract covering workers at 14 hotels expires Wednesday and negotiations continue.

In San Francisco, about 4,000 hotel workers were also expected to vote Tuesday in favor of authorizing a strike, said union spokeswoman Valerie Lapin.

Besides the usual issues over wages, benefits and workload, the key demand for Los Angeles workers is a contract that would expire at the same time as those for hotel workers in six cities and Hawaii - an expiration that employees said would give them more leverage at bargaining time.

"That would level the playing field," said Donald Wilson, a banquet chef and shop steward at the Century Plaza. "Our goal is to get into the middle class, to break in."

Hotel operators in Los Angeles have been in testy negotiations with the union for months and oppose a contract that would require them to start talks again so soon.

"We don't want to do this again in 18 months," because of the expense and difficulty of the negotiations, said Fred Muir, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Hotel Employers Council. Hotels are prepared to operate if there is a strike, Muir said.