After three years of failed contract negotiations and the recent launch of a global boycott against Chicago-based hotel chain Hyatt Hotels Corp., hundreds of hotel workers picketed outside the Hyatt Regency downtown July 26. [See first day coverage of the global action at www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/Global-boycott-of-Hyatt-announced/38734.html . ]
Workers lined the sidewalks of the hotel with noisemakers and pots and pans, drowning out the sounds of rush hour downtown.
The boycott has drawn support nationally from LGBT groups and famed gay activist Cleve Jones.
The Chicago demonstration was one of nearly a dozen held around the country in recent days in support of Hyatt workers.
The workers allege that conditions at Hyatt hotels are unsafe and that the company refuses to provide tools that could ease the strain on housekeepers and other workers.
Hyatt contends that hospitality union UNITE HERE has refused to accept fair wage and benefits packages, using the boycott as an opportunity to build membership at non-union hotels.
Demetrius Jackson—who works at the Hyatt Regency in convention services, setting up chairs and tables for conferences and events—said, "The injuries that we see in convention services are just ridiculous."
Jackson wants Hyatt to provide back braces, sturdier gloves and motorized carts for moving chairs and tables. "I want to be treated like I'm a human being, not a machine," he said.
The demonstration drew workers from other hotels in the city as well as a group of more than 100 hotel workers from Detroit.
UNITE HERE Local 1 President Henry Tamarin said the Hyatt contract negotiations are important to hotel workers throughout the city because they could set a precedent for other hotels whose contracts expire in the coming months.
The union announced a global boycott July 23. The boycott has the backing of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Feminist Majority Foundation, Pride at Work, National Women's Health Network, National Stonewall Democrats, NFL Players Association, the National Organization of Women, Netroots Nation and Interfaith Worker Justice.
[NOTE: "An earlier headline on this story was "Hundreds strike at Hyatt Regency." Use of the word "strike" was incorrect because a strike is a specific labor action. The headline has been changed to reflect this.]
A letter from Hyatt Regency
August 3, 2012
At Hyatt, the satisfaction and wellbeing of our associates is fundamental to the success of our business because they are the ones who provide hospitality to our guests. Hyatt provides industry-leading wage and benefits packages, maintains an outstanding workplace safety record, and is a recognized leader in promoting a diverse workforce. That is why the average tenure of Hyatt housekeepers in the US is more than 12 years, why there are more than 20,000 Hyatt associates throughout the U.S. who have been with the company for more than 10 years, and why Hyatt is consistently distinguished as a great place to work in independent surveys of our associates, including our housekeepers.
The UniteHere campaign is not about creating a better workplace at our hotels, but is an attempt to boost union membership at non-union Hyatt hotels through a non-democratic and intimidating process. To maintain the campaign, UniteHere leaders have refused to allow their members in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Waikiki vote on proposals containing the same wage and benefits packages the union accepted at Hilton and Starwood. As a result, our associates in these cities have gone without the pay raises and benefits increases they deserve for nearly three years.
While continuing to deny our associates the pay raises and benefits increases they deserve, UniteHere leaders' new call for a boycott of Hyatt will have a direct and negative impact on our associates, who depend on business at our hotels for their livelihoods. If successful, the boycott will hurt our associates, contradicting the union's stated objective of supporting our associates by improving their workplace environment and compensation. While UniteHere leadership is pursuing a strategy that puts its interests ahead of our associates, Hyatt is placing its associates first by standing ready to pay the raises our associates should have gotten, which will be delivered upon completion of new contracts.
Hyatt is committed to paying our associates market-leading wages and benefits and their right to vote. In fact, in a full-page ad in the July 23 edition of the Washington Post, we set the record straight and urged UniteHere leaders do the right thing for their members by allowing them to vote on a new contract that gives them the wage and benefits increases they deserve.
More information about Hyatt's Washington Post ad is available here ( hyattpressroom.com/hyatt/en/news_releases0/2012/Hyatt-Sets-Record-Straight-On-UniteHere-Campaign.html ) and the actual ad is attached.
