Hundreds attend rally for fired Hyatt housekeepers

[ensho]

http://www.boston.com/jobs/news/articles/2009/09/18/hundreds_attend_rally_for_fired_hyatt_housekeepers/


Politicians urge boycott of the hotel


Several hundred hotel workers and their supporters turned out yesterday for a raucous rally in front of the Hyatt Regency Boston for the 100 housekeepers who were fired by the hotel chain. Politicians called for businesses to boycott the Hyatt, and workers banged on drums, rattled detergent bottles filled with rocks, and chanted “Hyatt, shame on you’’ as they marched in front of the hotel with picket signs.

Hyatt Hotels Corp. laid off the entire housekeeping staffs at the Hyatt Regency Boston, Hyatt Regency Cambridge, and Hyatt Harborside Hotel after the morning shift had ended on Aug. 31, citing challenging economic conditions, and immediately replaced them with workers from an out-of-state staffing firm. The housekeepers had been training those very workers, from Georgia’s Hospitality Staffing Solutions, who they were told would be filling in for vacations.

US Representative Michael Capuano and state Senator Anthony Galluccio called for a boycott of Hyatt. “Maybe they should have just taken the chocolates off the pillows, I don’t know,’’ Capuano told the people assembled on Avenue de Lafayette, near Downtown Crossing. “If we let them do this, another hotel will do it, and then another business, and on and on.’’

-snip-

Mayor Thomas M. Menino did not attend the rally, but in a statement, said: “The Hyatt made a crude business decision that will have devastating effects on real people who work hard everyday. My administration stands with these workers and will continue to fight for fair wages for all of our people.’’

In a statement issued yesterday, Hyatt Hotels Corp. said, “Due to the unprecedented economic environment, the Hyatt hotels in Boston -- like businesses all over America -- have had to make very difficult decisions to adjust costs in response to continuing declines in revenue. Unfortunately, these decisions have affected our associates at Boston-area properties. A restructuring of our housekeeping services included staff reductions that we deeply regret.’’

-snip-

The rally was part of an outpouring of support for the housekeepers - from people offering financial assistance to others saying they will be boycotting the Hyatt - which came yesterday after The Boston Globe’s front-page story about the layoffs. Ronald Hiemann, the chief executive of Seajet in Chelsea, a shipping company specializing in Asian goods, said he would no longer recommend the Hyatt to business associates in town from overseas.

“Hyatt has been crossed off the list,’’ he wrote in an e-mail. Hiemann also sent a letter to the Coalition of New England Companies for Trade, which holds a regular event at the Hyatt Regency in Newport, R.I., asking the group to book elsewhere.
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more power to housekeepers

[AllentownJake]

1. "Filling in for Vacations"

I love how honesty is supposed to flow one way with employers.

[safeinOhio]

2. the bottom line is sometimes hard to see

when you are short sighted. Save a few bucks on the help and by by guest. Do they make glasses for shortsightedness?

[CurtEastPoint]

3. I wrote to Hyatt and got the standard 'economic conditions' line from them.

Bottom line: they screwed loyal employees.

[katandmoon]

5. Ditto. I responded with a question: Has Hyatt's CEO/other top execs taken pay cuts? No response yet

[subcomhd]

4. assholes nt

[stuball111]

6. A dumb question...

What does "nt" mean here? And yes, assholes describes them perfectly, no offense to sphincters of the world!

[subcomhd]

7. no text. nt

[stuball111]

8. That's what I thought, thanks n/t

[crazylikafox]

9. I hope they hid all the toilet paper when they left.

[bobbolink]

11. naw...flushed it down the terlets...

:rofl:

[bobbolink]

10. Thanks for letting me know there are politicians I can be proud of!

I appreciate knowing this!

[Canuckistanian]

12. Good for them. All of them.

Politicians and activists and citizens alike.

Unless this "race to the bottom" is halted SOMEWHERE, these kind of stories will be repeated EVERYWHERE.

[glowing]

13. Honestly, its the newest thing in the Hskp dept to outsource to a cleaning company.

They charge per room a dollar amt. Bottom-line, they are doing this to save on the costs of health care. An independent contractor normally hires their crew as that, independent contractors. They are not obligated to pick up the tab on expensive health care costs because of the assignment of their staff being ind. contractors. It makes it cheaper for the outsourcing to these companies. It does save money at the hotel, but it will cost the city and state money from taxes and now having to pick up the tab on unemployment and insurance coverage (this being Mass).

All around it sucks. Its time to stop all of this crap. Its also way past the time that we have a single-payer solution for health care and just drop this dopey idea of reforming ins. and creating a crappy Public Option solution. AND its time we all stand up for one another. Stop the insanity of cheap labor; its killing this country.

[Hannah Bell]

15. "Ms. Pritzker’s family is renowned for finding ways to avoid paying taxes

on its wealth. The Pritzkers were pioneers in using tax loopholes to shelter their holdings from the Internal Revenue Service, and many of their dealings have never been made public." <1>


Obama Campaign Chair.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pritzker_family.

[Forkboy]

14. Happy to give a K&R on this one.

:kick: