SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hotel workers walked off the job this morning at the Grand Hyatt Union Square in San Francisco, announcing a 3-day strike against the property, according to Unite Here Local 2. The Grand Hyatt is owned and operated by Hyatt Hotels Corporation [NYSE: H], which consummates its initial public offering today raising more than $900 million for its principal owners, the Pritzker family.
“Hyatt’s cashing out almost a billion dollars for its owners, but at the same time they’re pushing to make health care unaffordable for me and my family?” remarked Aurolyn Rush, a 13-year telephone operator at the Grand Hyatt. “That is unforgivable, and we’re not going to stand for it.”
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Despite amassing record profits over the preceding five years, hotel corporations in San Francisco and elsewhere have been using the economic downturn as an excuse to squeeze workers for long-term concessions. During the past two months, Local 2 has indicated an openness to reaching an exceptionally low-cost contract settlement, totaling as little as 1.5% increase in labor costs. Nonetheless, the industry has persisted in trying to win permanent takeaways in the areas of affordable health coverage and retiree coverage.
Hyatt has distinguished itself for making workers pay a steep price for the recession. In Boston, for example, Hyatt recently fired all housekeepers at its three non-union hotels, replacing them with outsourced workers paid about half of what the fired workers had earned. The company’s CEO, meanwhile, was paid $6.7 million in compensation in 2008, and its chairman received a bonus of $1.4 million.
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[Moderator, should this be moved to GH SF master review thread?]