December 15, 2011

Hundreds picket Hyatt HQ, protesting threats to cancel healthcare

Thousands could lose coverage under Hyatt’s proposal; Clergy denounce Hyatt’s “harsh tactics”
Hundreds of hotel workers and allies are picketing at Hyatt’s global headquarters today in protest of Hyatt’s proposal to strip health insurance from Chicago hotel workers and their families after more than two years of contract negotiations. Bargaining between Hyatt and the members of UNITE HERE Local 1 hit a turning point in late November after Hyatt threatened to cut off health benefits unless workers give up their fight and abandon their boycotts. Now hotel workers, religious leaders, and health advocates are calling on the company to withdraw its threat to Chicago workers. If Hyatt refuses, thousands of workers and members of their families in Chicago could lose health insurance at the end of February.
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November 30, 2011

Hyatt threatens to cut off workers’ healthcare

Negotiations hit crisis; Thousands could lose coverage under Hyatt’s proposal

After more than two years of bargaining, contract negotiations between Hyatt Hotels and members of UNITE HERE Local 1 hit a crisis point last Monday when Hyatt threatened to cut off health benefits unless workers give up their fight and abandon their boycotts. In response, hotel workers, religious leaders, and health advocates are holding a press conference in front of Hyatt Hotels’ global headquarters to denounce Hyatt for forcing workers to choose between their families’ immediate medical needs and a fight for their long-term survival.

“My son has suffered from chronic ear problems ever since he was a baby and is scheduled to go into surgery this month. Now Hyatt is asking me to decide between my son’s health and a future where I could lose my job,” says Cristian Toro, who has worked as a banquet server at the Hyatt McCormick Place for eight years.

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October 13, 2011

UNITE HERE Local 1 joins other CPS staff and service unions to issue statement of support for teachers

UNITE HERE Local 1 joins other CPS staff and service unions to issue statement of support for teachers, calling for "respectful" dialogue to improve schools

In recent weeks, the Board of Education has waged a fierce attack in the media on teachers represented by CTU Local 1 in the Chicago Public School system, focused primarily on the length of the school day.

Now-in a show of support for CPS teachers-Local 1 and other unions representing thousands of service and support staff at CPS are calling for an end to the Board's confrontational rhetoric. In a press conference today, these unions released a statement, encouraging instead a more respectful dialogue and collaboration with staff who work directly with our city's children to achieve improvements in the quality of education in Chicago Public Schools.

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September 8, 2011

Chicago Hyatt Workers Join Nationwide Strikes


Striking housekeepers and other hotel workers decry Hyatt as worst employer in the hotel industry

In an emblematic fight over the direction of our economy, today Hyatt workers in Chicago join thousands of Hyatt hotel workers in launching week-long strikes in cities nationwide, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Honolulu. Workers from the Hyatt Regency Chicago and the Hyatt McCormick are participating in local 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 at the Park Hyatt 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.

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July 28, 2011

Breaking News! Charges filed against Hyatt for turning heat lamps on striking workers during heat wave


Hotel workers are filing charges with the government against Hyatt for turning heat lamps on striking workers at the Park Hyatt Chicago during a brutal heat wave that swept the region last Thursday, July 21. After nearly two year of contract negotiations, hotel workers went on strike in protest of Hyatt’s abuse of housekeepers and the company’s ability to outsource jobs.

Ten heat lamps in the awning above the Park Hyatt front entrance were turned on striking workers when the strike began Thursday morning and were left on for about an hour. Heat lamps were turned off shortly after reports about them surfaced in the press. That day, an excessive heat warning was issued by the National Weather Service, with heat index readings climbing above 100 degrees in downtown Chicago. Hyatt released a public statement the following day, admitting that a manager was responsible for turning heat lamps on striking workers.

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July 21, 2011

Hotel workers strike at the Park Hyatt Chicago


Strike joins housekeeper protests of Hyatt in nine cities nationwide
After nearly two years of negotiations, housekeepers, dishwashers, bellmen and other hotel workers are going on strike at the Park Hyatt. Hyatt, a company that has more cash on hand than most of its competitors combined, wants to outsource work and impose dangerous working conditions on housekeepers. Today’s strike in Chicago coincides with Hyatt protests led by Hyatt housekeepers in nine cities nationwide, who are stepping out of the shadows to demand an end to the abuses they face at work.

Hotel housekeepers are the invisible backbone of the hotel industry. The grittier aspects of their jobs—the work of scrubbing toilets, changing sheets, and encountering guests alone behind closed doors—are the hidden foundation on which an atmosphere of luxury and comfort are built. Through UNITE HERE, the union representing hotel and other hospitality workers across North America, housekeepers are stepping forward and breaking the silence on the many dangers they face at work.

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