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Chicago, September 8, 2011 -- The following is being released today by UNITE HERE!: In an
emblematic fight over the
direction of our economy, today thousands of Hyatt hotel workers in
four cities
nationwide--Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Honolulu--are
launching
week-long strikes. By striking, workers are standing up for decent jobs
for
themselves and their families, but they are also fighting for the right
to take
a stand against an abusive employer that is destroying good jobs in
their North
American hotels. Hyatt
has singled itself out as the
worst employer in the hotel industry. Hyatt has replaced career
housekeepers
with minimum wage temporary workers and imposed dangerous workloads on
those
housekeepers who remain. In July, Hyatt turned heat lamps on striking
workers
in Chicago during a brutal heat wave. In Boston, Hyatt fired its entire
housekeeping staff at three non-union hotels, replacing women who had
worked at
Hyatt for decades with temporary workers earning minimum wage. Most
notably, Hyatt has sparked
controversy for its abuse of housekeepers. Injury rates for Hyatt
housekeepers
are high, and academic studies have shown that housekeeping can lead to
debilitating injuries. Housekeepers at some Hyatts clean as many as 30
rooms a
day, nearly double what is typically required at union hotels. To date,
OSHA or
its state counterparts have issued 15 citations against the Hyatt at
ten hotels
and 3 citations against one of the Hyatt’s housekeeping subcontractors
at one
of those hotels, alleging violations of safety regulations that protect
housekeepers and other employees. The agencies have proposed fines
totaling
$95,405.00 between Hyatt and its subcontractor. "Hyatt
is abusing housekeepers
in Los Angeles and across the country. I am on strike today--not just
for a
decent contract--but to fight for our right stand up to Hyatt wherever
this
giant company is attacking workers," says Cathy Youngblood, a
housekeeper
at the Hyatt Andaz in West Hollywood, California. Hyatt
workers have called for
boycotts at 17 Hyatt properties and have led dozens of public
demonstrations
all across North America. Already, Hyatt has lost over $20 million in
hotel
business as a result of the boycott. "Hyatt
workers are waging a
crucial struggle," says John Wilhelm, the President of UNITE HERE--a
union
representing 250,000 hotel and other hospitality workers throughout
North
America. "In the face of widening income inequality and the systematic
eradication of the American middle class, Hyatt workers are bravely
fighting
for the ability to stand up for one another in contending with a global
giant
like Hyatt." Contracts
for striking workers in
Chicago and San Francisco expired in August 2009, in Los Angeles in
November
2009, and in Honolulu in June 2010. Workers in each of these cities
have
reached agreements with other major hotel employers, like Hilton and
Starwood.
This week’s strike affects approximately 3,000 unionized hotel workers
at six
hotel properties across North America, including the largest Hyatt
property in
the world--the Hyatt Regency Chicago. |
Contact: Annemarie Strassel +1-312-617-0495 [email protected] |
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