Unions blowing it on Hyatt worker replacement scandal
Unions blowing it on Hyatt worker replacement scandal
Date: Thursday, November 19, 2009 2:09 PM
<<<<< JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER No. 2078 -- 10/19/2009 >>>>>
To summarize the situation, Hyatt housekeepers were forced to train their
foreign replacements. A union called "Unite Here" offered to help these
workers by organizing protests and boycotts.
Read these blogs for more on Hyatt:
http://blog.vdare.com/archives/2009/11/19/unions-blowing-it-on-hyatt-worker-replacement-scandal/
blog version of this newsletter
http://blog.vdare.com/archives/2009/09/29/protesting-american-worker-displacement-works-hyatt-hiring-back-some-american-housekeeper/
Protesting American Worker Displacement Works -- Hyatt Hiring Back Some
American Housekeepers
http://blog.vdare.com/archives/2009/09/20/hyatt-housekeepers-forced-to-train-their-h-2b-replacements/
Hyatt Housekeepers Forced To Train Their H-2B Replacements
Unite Here comes up with all sorts of reasons the Hyatt 100 lost their jobs,
but immigration isn't one of them. Notice how they mention outsourcing but
conveniently ignored the fact that the replacement workers were immigrants.
Hyatt fired 100 housekeepers from its three Boston-area hotels after
asking the workers to train their replacements from an outsourcing
agency.
The union is correct that the economy is being used an excuse by Hyatt, but
the reason they can actually do what they are doing is IMMIGRATION.
Hyatt is using the economy as an excuse to dramatically lower the
living standards of hotel workers in other cities as well.
The same thing is happening to Hyatt workers in San Francisco and Chicago.
Not surprisingly Unite Here and the AFL-CIO are claiming to do something about
the problem while ignoring the real issue: IMMIGRATION.
The unions decided to protest the Boston situation by encouraging participants
to chant things like "Sm,se puede". That Spanish expression is used by the
pro-amnesty crowds and Obama followers, who are often one and the same. Not a
word was said about the reason Hyatt was able to replace American workers who
are perceived to be more expensive -- IMMIGRATION!
In the previous newsletter I wrote: "the immigration angle of this story is
being swept under the rug by the mainstream media", which is just what
happened. Local media like the Boston Globe dropped any connections that the
Hyatt story had with immigration by simply failing to mention it was ever an
issue. In contrast, their early articles on Hyatt did mention immigration
without giving specifics.
So, how did things work out for those housekeepers that were replaced by cheap
foreign laborers?
The Hyatt offered some of them jobs back but the terms were terrible. So far
only 6 of 98 housekeepers have gone for the deal. I don't mean to seem
callous, but it's actually kind of funny that Hyatt offered to hire the
workers back but only if they agree to work for an outsourcing company called
United Service Companies. How ironic is that?
http://www.unitedhq.com/
United Service Companies
The union and the Hyatt ex-workers could make immigration an issue, which
might lead to a different outcome than the miserable one they are getting now,
but of course they won t because probably none of them understand how
Einstein s famous statement about repeating errors and getting the same result
applies to their failure to mention immigration. The unions would rather lose
than be politically incorrect, and Hyatt management will be more than happy to
accommodate them. Those Hyatt workers are more alone than they realize because
even their "friends" aren t going to help to solve the real problem.
ARTICLES USED:
http://www.chicagorealestatedaily.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=36169
Hyatt's offer taken by only 6 fired Boston housekeepers
http://blog.aflcio.org/2009/11/18/unite-here-fighting-for-hotel-workers-across-nation/
UNITE HERE Fighting for Hotel Workers Across Nation
http://in.sys-con.com/node/1178671
UNITE HERE: Hotel Workers Throughout North America Call on Hyatt to Rehire
'The Boston 100'
http://www.jimhightower.com/node/6945
HYATT BOYCOTTED FOR BLINDSIDING HOUSEKEEPERS
http://industry.bnet.com/travel/10003611/hyatt-offers-housekeepers-jobs-with-staffing-agency/
Hyatt Offers Housekeepers Jobs -- With Staffing Agency
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http://www.chicagorealestatedaily.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=36169
Nov. 17, 2009
By
Hyatt's offer taken by only 6 fired Boston housekeepers
(Reuters) Just six of the 98 Boston housekeepers fired by Hyatt Hotels Corp.
in August have taken up its offer of alternative employment, and few have
responded to overtures by phone or mail, a Hyatt manager said.
"We've made countless attempts" to contact workers, Philip Stamm, general
manager of the Hyatt Regency Boston and head of Hyatt's task force on the
matter, said in an interview Monday.
"We're under the impression that they're being misinformed," Stamm said.
"They're just rejecting these offers without having an opportunity to evaluate
them."
The issue has sparked an uproar among hotel workers nationwide and prompted
the governor of Massachusetts to threaten a boycott of the company.
The lack of interest, which Stamm described as "disheartening," has dealt a
blow to Chicago-based Hyatt's attempt to address what has been a public
relations nightmare.
Stamm said the layoffs were made to protect the viability of Hyatt's three
Boston hotels amid the economic downturn.
Hyatt offered the housekeepers new jobs with affiliate United Services Cos.
and said it would match their previous pay rate through 2010. The company said
it would extend health care coverage through March 2010.
Six former housekeepers now work for United Services and another 16 have found
other work, Stamm said. He said Hyatt's offer is "very generous"
given the bleak economic backdrop.
"Hyatt, I think, is playing games because they think we're stupid," said Luz
Aquino, who was a housekeeper at the Hyatt Harborside. She added that the
company's offer was not attractive -- offering no benefits after March, or
vacation.
Aquino pointed to Monday's Boston Globe column by Kevin Cullen focusing on one
housekeeper who learned that her son's hospital visits would no longer be
covered by her insurer.
Hyatt spokeswoman Farley Kern said that was a mistake by the insurance
provider. She said those claims would now be covered in full.
Hotel union Unite Here has taken up the cause of the housekeepers, who are not
in a union, with vigils and rallies in a dozen cities in recent weeks.
On Monday, Unite Here Local 1, a Chicago hotel workers union, staged a rally
in front of the Park Hyatt in Chicago.
"Hotel companies are using the economy as an excuse to squeeze workers,"
said Unite Here spokeswoman Annemarie Strassel. "At this point, Hyatt is the
starkest example."
Part of the outrage stems from Hyatt's recent initial public offering. To lure
investors, Hyatt touted its strong balance sheet, with more than five times
the combined cash of its two rivals, Marriott International and Starwood
Hotels & Resorts.
Given that statistic, hotel workers have difficulty understanding Hyatt's
decision to cut jobs, Strassel said.
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http://blog.aflcio.org/2009/11/18/unite-here-fighting-for-hotel-workers-across-nation/
UNITE HERE Fighting for Hotel Workers Across Nation
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by James Parks, Nov 18, 2009
Hotel workers and their supporters held a candlelight vigil outside the
Hyatt Regency Boston last week.
Members of UNITE HERE are walking out and digging in to fight for fair
contracts at hotels across the country. Some 650 workers at the Westin St.
Francis in San Francisco went on strike this morning and will remain out until
the first shift on Saturday morning.
Members of UNITE HERE Local 2 voted by a 92 percent to 8 percent margin to
authorize strikes at any of the 31 upscale hotels in San Francisco. Despite
earning record profits over the past five years, the hotels are using the
recession as an excuse to demand changes in eligibility for the employees
health care plan that would eliminate coverage or put it out of reach for many
workers.
UNITE HERE contracts covering some 7,500 workers at 37 hotels in Chicago and
9,000 at 31 San Francisco hotels expired in August. Talks are continuing with
the largest employers in each city. The hotel management companies are
pressing for contracts that would slash health and retirement benefits and
would increase workloads.
Says Francesca Ramos, a 19-year seamstress at the St. Francis:
They just want to use the economy as an excuse to cut back, even though we
know they re making big money.
Says Local 2 President Mike Casey, also in San Francisco:
There has never been a question of whether [the Westin St. Francis] can
afford what s on the table. The question is whether these companies will make
a business decision that s in the best interests of workers, the city and the
hotels themselves.
This is the third three-day strike at a San Francisco hotel in as many weeks.
Workers previously staged strikes at the Grand Hyatt and the Palace hotels.
Penny Pritzker, who chairs four major corporations, including the parent of
the Grand Hyatt, is a vocal opponent of workers freedom to form unions,
strongly opposing the Employee Free Choice Act.
Earlier this year, Pritzker, who serves on President Obama s White House
Economic Recovery Advisory Board, joined with other billionaires to fight the
Employee Free Choice Act. She also served as the Obama campaign s national
finance chairwoman.
Click here to learn more about Penny Pritzker.
Meanwhile, contract talks in Chicago have stalled and are far from settlement,
union leaders say. Things have gotten really bad, Annemarie Strassel,
spokeswoman for UNITE HERE Local 1, told the Chicago Tribune.
I think that employers see the bad economy as an opportunity to ram
through proposals.
In recent months, the Boston Hyatt fired all 98 housekeepers at its three
nonunion hotels, replacing them with lesser-paid temporary workers with no
benefits. Since then, these housekeepers have been engaged in the fight of
their lives. Workers in cities around the nation have rallied in support of
the fired workers.
For more information on UNITE HERE s campaign for fair hotel contracts, go to
www.unitehere2.org.
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http://in.sys-con.com/node/1178671
UNITE HERE: Hotel Workers Throughout North America Call on Hyatt to Rehire
'The Boston 100'
BOSTON, Nov. 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- This week thousands of workers in a
dozen cities across North America will hold a coordinated series of public
demonstrations to demand that Hyatt Hotels "Bring Back the Hyatt 100." Hyatt
fired 100 housekeepers from its three Boston-area hotels after asking the
workers to train their replacements from an outsourcing agency.
The action has ignited a national controversy for the newly public Hyatt
Hotels which launched an initial public offering of its stock on November 5,
2009.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070817/CLF013LOGO)
The firing of the "Hyatt 100" housekeepers stands as the most dramatic example
of Hyatt's contributing to the nation's unemployment problem and healthcare
crisis. The incident has drawn the ire of workers and community leaders alike,
including Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, who said that he would call on
state agencies to boycott the three Boston-area hotels if the housekeepers
were not recalled.
Hyatt is using the economy as an excuse to dramatically lower the living
standards of hotel workers in other cities as well. They are eliminating jobs,
proposing healthcare cuts and getting a smaller pool of workers to work harder
and faster. While this marks a trend involving several major hotel companies,
Hyatt is the starkest example.
"Hyatt's cashing out almost a billion dollars for its owners (The Pritzker
Family of Chicago) but at the same time they are pushing to make healthcare
unaffordable for me and my family?" remarked Aurolyn Rush, a 13-year telephone
operator at the Grand Hyatt San Francisco - the site of a three day strike
last week. "That's unforgivable. And what Hyatt is doing to those housekeepers
in Boston is outrageous. We're not going to stand for it."
The Hyatt 100 solidarity actions begin with a march and rally of hundreds of
workers in Toronto on Nov. 10 and will continue through November 19 in Boston,
Los Angeles, San Antonio, San Diego, Vancouver BC, Indianapolis, Chicago,
Philadelphia, Santa Clara and San Francisco.
Unite Here represents over 300,000 workers throughout the U.S. and Canada who
work in the hospitality, gaming, food service, manufacturing, textile,
laundry, and airport industries.
For more information, visit www.HotelWorkersRising.org.
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http://www.jimhightower.com/node/6945
HYATT BOYCOTTED FOR BLINDSIDING HOUSEKEEPERS
Tuesday, October 6, 2009 | Posted by Jim Hightower
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Listen to this Commentary
If ignorance is bliss, the corporate chieftains of the Hyatt Hotel chain must
be ecstatic.
They pulled a lowdown, sneaky trick on 98 of Hyatt's housekeeping staff in
three Boston hotels -- thinking that no one would notice, care, or do
anything. They badly underestimated Bostonians.
In August, housekeepers at the three hotels were asked to train some new
workers to fill-in when regulars were sick or on vacation. On August 31,
however, the experienced staff -- many of whom have worked for Hyatt for more
than 20 years -- were blindsided by a rude truth: they'd been duped.
Management told them they were fired as of that day. It turns out that the
workers they'd been training would replace them.
These replacements are employees of an outsourcing corporation called
Hospitality Staffing Solutions of Georgia, whose honcho asserts that his
workers are paid "competitive wages." Yeah, competitive with poverty.
Indeed, Hyatt's longtime housekeepers were earning $14 to $16 an hour, plus
health care and pension benefits. The Staffing Solutions workers, however, get
a miserly $8 an hour, with zero benefits.
Bostonians are in an uproar. There've been mass demonstrations in front of
Hyatt's hotels, the governor has directed state agencies to stop doing
business with Hyatt, even the Chamber of Commerce has moved a scheduled
meeting from the Hyatt, and the Boston Taxi Drivers Association intends to
boycott the three hotels.
Meanwhile, Hyatt executive are essentially in hiding, claiming that replacing
the workers was an essential "cost-cutting move." Really? Where's Mark
Hoplamazian, Hyatt's CEO, who took $6.7 million in pay last year? If he cut
his pay by about $1.5 million, that'd cover the $7-an-hour difference in pay
between the experienced housekeepers and the replacements. Come on, Mark --
Step up to your leadership responsibilities!
"Hyatts Face Protests After Layoffs in Boston Area," The New York Times,"
September 25, 2009.
"A hard ending for housekeepers," www.boston.com, September 17, 2009.
"Workers reject Hyatt's job offer," www.boston.com, September 28, 2009.
"Playing by the book doesn't always cut it," www.hotelnewsnw.com, September
28, 2009.
"Mass. Gov tells state workers to shut out Hyatt," www.yahoo.com, September
23, 2009.
"Boston cabbies threaten Hyatt boycott over layoffs," www.google.com,
September 25, 2009.
"Hyatt blinks on firings," www.bostonherald.com, September 26, 2009.
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http://industry.bnet.com/travel/10003611/hyatt-offers-housekeepers-jobs-with-staffing-agency/
Hyatt Offers Housekeepers Jobs -- With Staffing Agency
By Barbara E. Hernandez | Sep 29, 2009
It almost seemed as if the Hyatt Hotels Corp. controversy and subsequent
boycott, over firing its housekeepers after having them train their successors
as so-called "vacation fill-ins," was over. Hyatt contacted the
98 housekeepers to offer them a job -- not with Hyatt, but with a staffing
agency. Perhaps one similar to the one where they found their minimum-wage
replacements.
Although many news reports call this a job offer, it s not. It s only the
possibility of a job. Hyatt also offered to extend health care benefits until
March. The staffing agency is United Service Companies, and apparently Hyatt
is promising the housekeepers former rate of pay through 2010. About two-
thirds of the housekeepers rejected the offer.
I don t know if the housekeepers are going to be able to get their jobs back,
but they are in an excellent bargaining position. Already Hyatt has extended
health care benefits to six months and offered training and placement,
something not offered before the story went viral. But a temp job offer? Stay
classy, Hyatt.
What I m interested in is how much flack the Boston-area Hyatts received from
corporate over this whole debacle.
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