Hyatt housekeepers organize global boycott for better working conditions
Skift Take
Hyatt doesn’t seem phased by Unite Here’s growing movement to get guests to boycott the hotel, despite the union's history of uncanny successes in unlikely situations.
As I walked out of a noticeably dirty Hyatt hotel while on a book tour in San Francisco last week, I was startled by a major labor event with a well-executed picket line and loud, disciplined chanting. It became clear that the housekeeping staff and their union were asking customers to boycott Hyatt over a dispute of which I had been unaware.
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="350"] Hyatt responded to the union's claim by pointing out that half of its employees stay at the company for 10+ years. Photo by Ludovic Bertron.[/caption]
I received a tip to the story from Julia Wong of Unite Here, a coalition of union members in the hospitality industry, which asserts that Hyatt commonly exploits its workers. At first, housekeepers were calling for boycotts of individual Hyatt properties. But when Hyatt refused to address some of the concerns raised – such as health and safety, when the hotel chain led the opposition to a California bill that would have required hotels to use fi
