Press Release for July 22, 2010

For questions please contact Nick Sifuentes at (310-866-1692)

Hyatt faces protests in 15 cities across North America

Facing layoffs and cutbacks, thousands protest Hyatt,

allege company is taking unfair advantage of tough times

Nearly 1000 face arrest in non-violent civil disobedience

On July 22, thousands of hotel workers in 15 cities across North America will hold public demonstrations protesting Hyatt (NYSE: H) and its billionaire ownership family, the Pritzkers—one of the wealthiest and most politically influential families in America.  As part of these actions, nearly 1000 workers and supporters are prepared to face arrest in coordinated acts of non-violent civil disobedience to express their outrage at how the company is trying to make the recession permanent for workers, despite significantly improving industry conditions and Hyatt's rising share values.  

In Long Beach, the Hyatt Regency saw roughly one hundred protesters—workers, clergy and community members—gathered together to call on the hotel to allow its workers a fair process for exercising their right to form a union. The hotel, which is currently up for sale, is engaged in a lawsuit wherein employees of the hotel allege that management has failed to pay proper overtime and denied workers meal and rest breaks as required by law. 

The demonstrations signal a deepening crisis for Hyatt and its billionaire owners—the Pritzker Family—who have become an emblematic obstacle to our nation’s recovery. Hotel workers across North America have endured staff cuts, reduced hours, and excessive injury rates.  Hyatt wants to take more away and lock workers into recession contracts even as the economy rebounds. In one stark example, Hyatt fired its entire housekeeping staff from its three Boston-area hotels and replaced them with workers from a subcontracting agency earning minimum wage.  While many hotel workers live in poverty, the Pritzker Family cashed out over $900 million in their sale of Hyatt shares in November 2009.

“I gave my body—everything I have—to that hotel, and Hyatt disposed of us like we were trash,” said Lucine Williams, who worked at the Hyatt Regency Boston for 21 years, before Hyatt fired her on August 31, 2009. 

The Long Beach Coalition for Good Jobs and a Healthy Community stood in solidarity with Hyatt workers today, joining their picket lines after staging a protest inside the hotel itself. Clergy members and community members addressed Hyatt Regency Long Beach management directly by going inside the hotel and calling publicly for the Hyatt Regency to do the right thing and respect their workers’ rights to organize.

“We were able to make a real statement to the hotel about the conditions here,” said Mike Day, President of the Teachers Association of Long Beach (TALB) and a steering committee member of the Coalition. “They need to know that the Long Beach community cares about the way these corporations do business here, and that we’re not going to let the Pritzkers—or any company—treat their workers unfairly anymore.”

The most prominent member of the Pritzker Family is Penny Pritzker, the former national finance chairwoman of Barack Obama's presidential campaign.  She now serves as a member of the President’s  Economic Recovery Advisory Board (PERAB).  Pritzker also runs TransUnion, a major credit-reporting company that has come under fire in recent months for contributing to the nation’s unemployment problem by selling credit information to employers to screen applicants.

Nationwide, the hotel industry is rebounding faster and stronger than expected, with a hearty rebound projected in 2011 and 2012. In the six months following Hyatt's November initial public offering Hyatt's shares were up over 65% (IPO on 11/5/09 at $25; 5/5/10 traded at $41.86).   Despite these trends showing a strong recovery for the hotel industry, hotels are still squeezing workers and cutting staff.  More than 115,000 jobs in the hotel industry have been cut since the recession began in 2008—46,000 of which have come just in the first quarter of 2010 as the industry has projected recovery. While this marks a trend involving several major hotel companies, Hyatt is the starkest example.

Aside from Long Beach’s action, other actions were held in Chicago, Honolulu, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Monterey, Boston, Vancouver, Toronto, Miami, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, San Antonio, Santa Clara and San Diego.   In 2010, citywide hotel contracts covering 45,000 unionized hotel workers in ten cities across the U.S. and Canada will expire and be subject to bargaining.

The Long Beach Coalition for Good Jobs and a Healthy Community is a community organization which advocates for a fair and sustainable economy that works for every Long Beach family. For more information, contact Nick Sifuentes at (310) 866-1692 or visit longbeachcoalition.org.

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