Workers, Students Take On University-Funded Hotel Firm

http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/5164/workers_students_take_on_university-funded_hotel_firm/

Thursday November 12 12:24 pm

Workers and students have boycotted the Le Meridien San Francisco hotel, owned by HEI. (Photo courtesy HEI Workers Rising.)

By David Moberg

Ferdi Lazo escaped the civil war in El Salvador 22 years ago and moved to the United States, but now he’s been drawn into a new war just outside this nation’s capitol—a war for his right as a worker to form a union.


Workers and students have boycotted the Le Meridien San Francisco hotel, owned by HEI. (Photo courtesy HEI Workers Rising.)


For most of his time in the U.S., Lazo, 44, has worked in the engineering department of the Crystal City Sheraton Hotel. A couple of years ago, the private equity firm HEI Hotels and Resorts bought the hotel to operate as a Sheraton franchise.

HEI is a relatively new, fast-growing and already quite influential owner-operator of more than 30 upscale, full-service hotels. Its strategy includes pursuing much of its investment funds—now totaling over $1 billion—from the endowments of prestigious universities, including those in the Ivy League.

According to Ian Lewis, a researcher for UNITE HERE, the hotel union, HEI’s strategy after it buys hotels is to “lay off workers, increase workloads, and cut corners any way they can.” While many hotels impose heavy workloads on room attendants, expecting them to clean 14 to 16 rooms a day, HEI often requires cleaning up to 32 a day, Lewis says.

FULL story at link.