Hyatt protests spread to Chicago; 200 arrested

About 200 union and hospitality workers were arrested yesterday afternoon in Chicago as they demonstrated their support for 98 workers who lost their jobs in Boston-area Hyatt Hotels, the Chicago Tribune reported in a story.

According to the Tribune, about 900 members of Unite Here Local 1, the union that represents hospitality workers in and around Chicago, participated in the demonstration; those arrested sat in the middle of a street as an act of civil disobedience.

Also yesterday, a fired housekeeper from the Hyatt Harborside Hotel in Boston appealed to Hyatt Hotels director Penny Pritzker yesterday at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers to reverse Hyatt’s termination of nearly 100 housekeepers at three Boston-area Hyatt hotels, Unite Here Local 1 said.
In a press release, Unite Here Local 1 identified the housekeeper as Angela Norena.

"Norena was joined by union housekeepers in a delegation of 20 women from a number of Chicago hotels in calling on Pritzker to rehire the Boston group," the union said in its release. "Pritzker refused to listen to Norena’s concerns."

The Chicago protest stemmed from the events of Aug. 31, when the three Boston area Hyatt hotels - Hyatt Harborside, Hyatt Regency Boston, and Hyatt Regency Cambridge -- fired its 98 staff housekeepers, some of whom had been on staff for more than 20 years and made more than $15 an hour; they were replaced them with $8-an-hour subcontracted workers from an Atlanta cleaning firm.

Some of the staff housekeepers said they had been asked to train these outsourced employees over the past few years and were assured the new workers would not be replacing them. The cleaning company and the Hyatt deny these claims.

The Hyatt's move has sparked a public outcry against the hotel company, with businesses canceling conventions at the Boston Hyatts and Governor Deval L. Patrick calling for state employees to boycott the hotels unless the company rehires the staff housekeepers.

The Boston Taxi Drivers Association has also threatened to boycott the Hyatt and refuse service to the chain’s Boston locations unless the housekeepers are rehired.

Amid the public pressure, the Hyatt agreed to extend the health benefits of the fired workers and to help each one find a new job but so far has been unwilling to reverse its decision, which it says it made due to challenging economic conditions.

http://www.boston.com/business/ticker/2009/09/hyatt_protests.html

UNION!

the other side are democrats who backed barack. a very interesting family here in illinois.

Penny Pritzker

Born 1959
Chicago, Illinois
Political party Democratic
Alma mater Harvard University,Stanford University
Occupation Businesswoman

Penny Sue Pritzker (born 1959) is an American business executive, and a member of the Pritzker family of Chicago, one of America's wealthiest business families.

She is the founder and current Chair of Classic Residence by Hyatt, a chain of luxury senior living communities spread throughout the United States,

and the national finance chair of Barack Obama's presidential campaign.

In 2007 the Forbes 400 list of "America's wealthiest" showed her as the 135th richest person in the U.S., estimated net worth of $2.8 billion US,<1> in 2008 tied for 227th with $2.0 billions.<2> In 2009 Forbes listed her as the world's 647th richest person, with net worth of $1.1 billions.<3>

On November 20, 2008, CNN reported that Pritzker was Barack Obama's top choice for Commerce Secretary, quoting "multiple" unnamed sources.<4> However, it was later reported that Pritzker took herself out of the running due to concerns about her confirmation.<5><6>

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

no wonder their were concerns....thanks for the clarification

Warring Pritzker Clan Splits its Ticket: Obama v. Hillary

April 16, 2007 | 6:24 p.m

The support of the warring Pritzker family is split between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

The warring (and incredibly wealthy) Pritzker family seems to have carried its feud into presidential politics. Penny Pritzker, Barack Obama's national finance chair, is the niece of Jay Pritzker, whose death in 1999 sparked an ugly internecine inheritance battle over the Hyatt hotel chain and other enormous family assets. A plan to pass control of the empire to Penny and two other relatives collapsed in 2001 when another wing of the family filed suit. A settlement was eventually reached, but apparently there are still plenty of grudges, which may explain the division of Pritzker names donating to Hillary Clinton and Obama.

Hillary has the support of the California Pritzkers, a branch that includes Penny's brother, Anthony N. Pritzker -- the director, and co-founder of the Pritzker Group. Jay Pritzker's son John A. Pritzker, who served in various executive positions within the Hyatt Corporation, and his wife Lisa Pritzker, a women's health advocate, are also with Hillary.

Obama has the Chicago Pritzkers behind him. There is Penny, of course, and also her cousin Thomas Pritzker, who, like her, was supposed to inherit the bulk of the family fortune before the lawsuits came. Thomas' wife, Margot, founder and president of WomenOnCall.org, and his mother, Marian, widow of Jay, also contributed to Obama. Karen Pritzker, who is from Chicago but just bought an apartment in Manhattan for $12.5 million, also gave to Obama.

http://www.observer.com/2007/obama-pritzkers-hillary-pritzkers

Hmm.

K&R! :kick:

that the American workers have had it up to >here< with the mantra of greed and we are shortly going to see much more empathy and solidarity.

I can haz strike?

Yes, yes you can.

Go for it people!