Why Boycott Hyatt?

Hyatt workers and allies are calling on people of conscience to Boycott Hyatt!

Overview of Hyatt Campaign

Hyatt has singled itself out as the worst hotel employer in America. Hyatt has abused workers, replacing career housekeepers with minimum wage temporary workers and imposing dangerous workloads on those who remain.

In response, Hyatt workers have taken bold steps to end mistreatment, speaking publicly about abuses, going on strike, and now launching a global boycott of Hyatt.

The launch of the global boycott is the largest escalation to date in a multi-year campaign by Hyatt workers nationwide to win fair treatment and safer working conditions from Hyatt. Leaders of progressive organizations nationwide, like the AFL-CIO, the National Organization for Women, the NFL Players Association, the National Gay and Lesbian Taskforce and more, have stood with Hyatt workers in support of their boycott. Simultaneously, workers are launching a call online to “Vote Hyatt the Worst Hotel Employer in America.” Prominent public figures, musicians, and organizational allies have joined Hyatt workers this week in calling on over two million people to go online and take action.

The global Hyatt boycott has been endorsed by the IUF, the global union federation, and virtually every union representing hotel workers worldwide. Additionally, over 5,000 individuals and organizations have pledged to honor boycotts called by Hyatt workers nationwide. Already, Hyatt has lost more than $25 million in hotel business as a result of the boycott.

Hyatt’s Record of Labor Abuses

Hyatt’s aggressive subcontracting is destroying good jobs and exploiting immigrants.

Don’t let the door hit you on the way out. In Boston, Hyatt fired its entire housekeeping staff and replaced them with temporary workers earning minimum wage.
You want a job AND you want to get paid? Hyatt’s subcontracted workers in Indianapolis filed a lawsuit, alleging they were not getting paid for all the hours they worked. Hyatt responded by firing the subcontractor, putting in jeopardy the jobs of people who bravely stepped forward in the lawsuit.
We see Hyatt’s aggressive use of subcontracting in other cities. In Baltimore, for instance, only 9 of the 30-40 housekeepers working at the Hyatt Regency are full-time and directly employed by Hyatt. The rest are subcontracted temp workers earning minimum wage.

Hyatt housekeepers have crushing workloads.

Work speed-up. Some housekeepers clean up to 30 rooms in an 8-hour shift, leaving only 15 minutes to clean a room. This requires rushing that can lead to serious injury and even permanent disability.
Even the federal government thinks there’s a problem. OSHA recently issued a companywide letter to Hyatt warning it of the hazards its housekeepers face on the job. This is a first for the hotel industry.
And the experts agree. In a study published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine examining a total of 50 hotel properties from 5 different hotel companies, Hyatt housekeepers had the highest injury rate of all housekeepers studied when compared by hotel company.
OSHA and Housekeeping. In response to complaints filed at union and non-union Hyatt properties, OSHA or its state counterparts issued health and safety citations against Hyatt at 11 hotels and one of Hyatt’s housekeeping subcontractors in 2011. These citations led to settlement agreements between Hyatt and the government that address various safety practices impacting housekeepers and other employees. Among these is a groundbreaking settlement at the Hyatt Fisherman’s Wharf in which Hyatt will conduct an ergonomic hazard analysis for the housekeeper task and form a housekeeping committee with employee participation.
Adding insult to injuries. Hyatt took the lead in lobbying against legislation in California that would make housekeeping work safer.

Hyatt workers suffer abuse and mistreatment.

There are many stories of abuse and mistreatment of Hyatt workers. Here are a few examples.

Three days for a C-Section? Hyatt demanded a dishwasher in San Francisco return to work three days after a C-section. When she refused, Hyatt tried to fire her.
Unjust firings. Hyatt fired two sisters after an objection was made to the posting of degrading pictures of them on a bulletin board at work.
You rally, you roast. Hyatt turned heat lamps on protesting workers in Chicago during a brutal heat wave.

Hyatt has refused to remain neutral as non-union hotel workers organize.

Non-union Hyatt workers in eight cities nationwide have asked the company for a fair and neutral process to form a union. Thus far, Hyatt has refused to honor the workers’ request to stay neutral.

Our Demands

End the abuse of housekeepers and adopt the recommendations made by the federal government to reduce the physical strain associated with housekeeping work (as outlined letter sent to Hyatt by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in April 2012).
Agree to a fair and neutral process for non-union workers to organize.
Agree to a fair contract with its unionized hotel workers, thousands of whom have been without a contract for nearly three years.