" /> Jewish Labor Committee: July 2012 Archives

« May 2012 | Main | August 2012 »

July 27, 2012

Hyatt housekeepers are launching a global boycott of Hyatt

SupportHyattHousekeepers4web.jpg

Housekeepers across the United States need your help. If you've ever stayed at a Hyatt and had a good night's sleep, you have a housekeeper to thank for your fresh sheets and fluffed pillows. But invisible to hotel guests is the pain and hardship that housekeepers endure to provide us with an atmosphere of comfort and luxury.
That's why this week Hyatt housekeepers are launching a global boycott of Hyatt. Please take two seconds to support them by voting "Hyatt the Worst Hotel Employer in America." Just click here.
Why is Hyatt the worst? Hyatt has replaced career housekeepers with temp workers earning minimum wage. Hyatt housekeepers have heavy workloads that can lead to debilitating pain and injuries. Hyatt has fired women shortly after they have spoken out about abuse and indignities at work. And Hyatt even turned heat lamps on workers protesting these conditions during a brutal Chicago heat wave.
The conditions confronting Hyatt housekeepers not only hurt them, but also other housekeepers in other major hotel chains in cities across the country - by lowering the standards in an entire city for housekeepers. On the other hand, raising the conditions under which Hyatt housekeepers work raises that standard.
Our history, our values and our traditions should provide ample reason to support these Hyatt housekeepers, as do the stories of their lives.
Worldwide, two million people are being called on to take a stand and "Vote Hyatt Worst." And now, we're calling on you. By joining together, we will urge Hyatt to change its ways. Vote here.

New England JLC activists at Boston rally for hotelworkers.

NEJLCatHyattdemoBostonJuly264web.jpg
(l-r: Sandra Korn, Dave Borrus. Martha Plotkin, Amy Mazur, Roberta Bauer, Marya Axner, Jim Marshall, Dick Bauer, Stephanie Ainbinder, and Glen Dansker)

(July 26, 2012) Boston, MA - New England JLC activists continued their support of Hyatt-chain hotel workers, this time as part of a 200-strong rally at the Hyatt Regency Downtown, one of the three Boston-area hotels who fired long-term housekeeping staff and replaced them with outsourced workers at almost half the wages and with no benefits. [Marya Axner, NE JLC Regional Director, center, is ready to clean up management's dirty deeds!] They joined people from UNITE HERE Local 26, Massachusetts Jobs with Justice and a range of unions, community groups and others. This past week, Hyatt hotel workers and their allies have been holding demonstrations cities across the United States, and also in London, marking the launch of a global boycott of Hyatt hotels. The far-reaching boycott is a response to the hotel company's extensive abuse of its workers and low wages. Find information on what you can do right now here.

July 24, 2012

Chicago Teachers at Illinois Holocaust Museum

CTUTripToIllinoisHolocaustMuseum4webJuly2012.jpg

(July 24th, 2012) Skokie, IL - Fifteen teachers, members of the Chicago Teachers Union, took a special group tour today of the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center in Skokie. Eli Fishman (left), Director of the Chicago Region of the Jewish Labor Committee, organizes these trips, working with the CTU Quest Center. One of the participants, Linda Comminos (Instructor 2012), wrote "as I spoke with some of the teachers immediately after the tour, they mentioned what a great resource this will be for them and their students."