Doyle hotel picketed by union.(Doyle Washington Hotel)

A day after Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern helped open the Doyle Washington Hotel, the hotel drew an angry protest from the hotel and restaurant union.

Union members picketed the renovated Dupont Circle hotel March 17, asking the hotel's new owners to rehire union employees.

More than 100 employees lost their jobs in late 1997 when Ireland-based Doyle Hotel Group bought the former Dupont Plaza for $26 million and closed it for a $14 million renovation.

"We feel that this needs to be changed, and if not changed, highlighted to the community," said John Boardman, executive secretary and treasurer of Hotel and Restaurant Employees Local 25.

…