Workers Protest Mistreatment by Hyatt

by James Parks, Jul 22, 2010

Thousands of hotel workers in 15 cities across North America have been taking to the streets today to protest the practices of Hyatt and its billionaire owners—the politically influential Pritzker family.

The hotel industry has rebounded quickly from the recession but hotel workers have not shared in the profits they helped create. Nationwide, more than 115,000 jobs in the hotel industry have been cut since the recession began in 2008, including 46,000 in the first quarter of 2010 alone.

As of March 31, Hyatt reported it had more than $1.3 billion in cash available. Yet Hyatt workers have endured staff cuts, reduced hours, and excessive injury rates. In one stark example, Hyatt fired the entire housekeeping staff from its three Boston-area hotels and replaced them with minimum-wage workers from a subcontracting agency. While many hotel workers live in poverty, the Pritzker family cashed out more than $900 million as part of Hyatt’s initial public offering last November.

Says UNITE HERE President John Wilhelm:

Hotel guests are returning and investors are trumpeting the recovery of the hotel industry, but in city after city, Hyatt is taking unfair advantage of its employees.

Hyatt should be leading the way to make hotel jobs good jobs; instead they are forcing workers to make do with less pay, worse benefits and unsafe working conditions.

The most prominent member of the Pritzker family is Penny Pritzker, the former national finance chairwoman of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. She now serves as a member of the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board.

This year, citywide contracts covering 45,000 union hotel workers in 10 cities in the United States and Canada will expire and hotel workers are being asked to take concessions.

“As a single mom, I am outraged by Hyatt’s proposals that continue to demand unaffordable concessions from us, especially as they continue to expand and grow” said Caddie Lin, a housekeeper and member of UNITE HERE Local 2 at San Francisco’s Grand Hyatt.

When will they start investing in the people that make them their millions? Don’t they know that our livelihoods are key to the economic recovery?

Actions will be held in Chicago, Honolulu, San Francisco, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Boston, Rosemont, Vancouver, Toronto, Miami, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, San Antonio, Santa Clara and San Diego.

“The last two years have been really difficult for me,” says Tiffany Pullum, a member of UNITE HERE Local 1 and a room attendant at the Hyatt Regency Chicago.

Hyatt laid me off for eight months, and I have a newborn baby to support. When I finally came back to work, several ladies in my department had thrown out their backs because of the new heavy mattresses and heavier work load at the Hyatt now. What was already a hard job just got harder, and I’m standing up to Hyatt, because they’re profits are coming back but we’re still in pain.

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