Working on this new server in php7...
imc indymedia

Los Angeles Indymedia : Activist News

white themeblack themered themetheme help
About Us Contact Us Calendar Publish RSS
Features
latest news
best of news
syndication
commentary


KILLRADIO

VozMob

ABCF LA

A-Infos Radio

Indymedia On Air

Dope-X-Resistance-LA List

LAAMN List




IMC Network:

Original Cities

www.indymedia.org africa: ambazonia canarias estrecho / madiaq kenya nigeria south africa canada: hamilton london, ontario maritimes montreal ontario ottawa quebec thunder bay vancouver victoria windsor winnipeg east asia: burma jakarta japan korea manila qc europe: abruzzo alacant andorra antwerpen armenia athens austria barcelona belarus belgium belgrade bristol brussels bulgaria calabria croatia cyprus emilia-romagna estrecho / madiaq euskal herria galiza germany grenoble hungary ireland istanbul italy la plana liege liguria lille linksunten lombardia london madrid malta marseille nantes napoli netherlands nice northern england norway oost-vlaanderen paris/Île-de-france patras piemonte poland portugal roma romania russia saint-petersburg scotland sverige switzerland thessaloniki torun toscana toulouse ukraine united kingdom valencia latin america: argentina bolivia chiapas chile chile sur cmi brasil colombia ecuador mexico peru puerto rico qollasuyu rosario santiago tijuana uruguay valparaiso venezuela venezuela oceania: adelaide aotearoa brisbane burma darwin jakarta manila melbourne perth qc sydney south asia: india mumbai united states: arizona arkansas asheville atlanta austin baltimore big muddy binghamton boston buffalo charlottesville chicago cleveland colorado columbus dc hawaii houston hudson mohawk kansas city la madison maine miami michigan milwaukee minneapolis/st. paul new hampshire new jersey new mexico new orleans north carolina north texas nyc oklahoma philadelphia pittsburgh portland richmond rochester rogue valley saint louis san diego san francisco san francisco bay area santa barbara santa cruz, ca sarasota seattle tampa bay tennessee urbana-champaign vermont western mass worcester west asia: armenia beirut israel palestine process: fbi/legal updates mailing lists process & imc docs tech volunteer projects: print radio satellite tv video regions: oceania united states topics: biotech

Surviving Cities

www.indymedia.org africa: canada: quebec east asia: japan europe: athens barcelona belgium bristol brussels cyprus germany grenoble ireland istanbul lille linksunten nantes netherlands norway portugal united kingdom latin america: argentina cmi brasil rosario oceania: aotearoa united states: austin big muddy binghamton boston chicago columbus la michigan nyc portland rochester saint louis san diego san francisco bay area santa cruz, ca tennessee urbana-champaign worcester west asia: palestine process: fbi/legal updates process & imc docs projects: radio satellite tv
printable version - js reader version - view hidden posts - tags and related articles

Philippine unions support campaign of workers in Hyatt hotels in US

by Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) Monday, Apr. 30, 2012 at 2:26 AM

TRADE unions and other organizations picketed today the Hyatt Hotel and Casino Manila in the Malate area to air their support to the global campaign to boycott the Hyatt chain of hotels prompted by the rampant abuses against the workers in several Hyatt hotels in the US, even as they recall the almost similar plight suffered by the workers in the shuttered Hyatt Regency Manila.

Philippine unions su...
2002_hyatt_philippines_filipino_workers_strike-nuwhrain_apl.gif, image/gif, 300x225

Branded as America’s “worst employer in the national hotel industry,” Hyatt is accused of “replacing longtime employees with minimum wage temporary workers and imposing dangerous workloads on those who remain,” adding that “Hyatt housekeepers have high rates of injury.”

What incited the Hyatt workers, after years of silence, to finally confront their employer was when all the housekeepers at three non-unionized Hyatt hotels in Boston, Massachusetts – Hyatt Regency Boston, Hyatt Regency Cambridge, Hyatt Harborside – were arbitrarily fired (with no advance notice) and replaced by temporary workers on August 31, 2009.

Called “The Hyatt 100,” the dismissed workers – some of them had worked for Hyatt for over 20 years – earned widespread support from the public and civil society organizations, led by the unions, and even from various religious groups, politicians and businesses.

The Boston protests may have inspired workers in other Hyatt hotels in the US to later raise their grievances and assert their rights, including those in Chicago, Illinois; Indianapolis, Indiana; San Antonio, Texas; Scottsdale, Arizona; Santa Clara, San Francisco and Long Beach in California; and Seattle, Washington.

The hyatthurts.org website explained that Hyatt’s subcontracting is actually “destroying good jobs and exploiting immigrant workers,” who are either deceived or forced to take jobs with much lower pay and without security of tenure.

It added that Hyatt housekeeping staffs comprise one of the most abused hotel workers in the US. For instance, they had the highest injury rate among housekeepers, according to a study – on 50 hotel facilities from five different hotel firms – published by the American Journal of Industrial Medicine.

Housekeepers or room attendants at some Hyatts have also excessive workloads as they have to clean as many as 30 rooms a day or “as little as 15 minutes” per room. Violations of occupational safety and health standards are also increasing; thus, last year, 11 Hyatt hotels were slapped with 18 citations, and three against one of Hyatt’s housekeeping subcontractors.

Likewise, Hyatt is said to have led the moves to oppose the bill in the US Congress that would have end the inhuman “‘on our knees’ bathroom cleaning and backbreaking bed-making practices.”

Several Hyatt hotels have also blatantly intervened in blocking the formation of local unions; and last year a Hyatt manager was accused of turning heat lamps “during a brutal heat wave” on striking Hyatt workers in Chicago.

Meanwhile, the National Union of Workers in Hotel, Restaurant and Allied Industries (Nuwhrain-APL-IUF), the lead organization in the picket in front of the Hyatt Hotel and Casino Manila, reaffirmed its “solidarity with the workers of Hyatt in the United States and elsewhere in the world who have suffered and continued to suffer from many forms of exploitation and abuses perpetrated by the hotel brands under the Hyatt Corporation.”

Nuwhrain-APL, an affiliate of the IUF, the biggest global federation of unions in the hotel and related industries, said that it could very much relate to the “Hyatt issue” as one of its former local members was the incumbent union in Hyatt Regency Manila until it “suspiciously closed” in 2007.

“The sudden closure of Hyatt Regency Manila reeks of deception and machination since it was not really because of bankruptcy but to avoid its obligation with the workers when they won their unfair labor practices case filed in the National Labor Relations Commission and the Court of Appeals,” Edwin Bustillos, Samahang Manggagawa sa Hyatt (Samasah) president, said.

Prior to this, Hyatt, through the Hotel Enterprises of the Philippines Inc. (HEPI), illegally sacked employees, mostly regular and union members, thus they are eligible either to return to work or payment of both separation and retirement benefits provided by law and the then existing collective bargaining agreement (CBA), Bustillos clarified.

In hindsight, the Alliance of Progressive Labor added, what happened in Hyatt Regency Manila was a classic tactic of union-busting.

Nuwhrain argued that the Hyatt Corp., as the brand owner, is as guilty as HEPI not only for failing to prevent the mass dismissal and for the continued non-implementation of the court orders, but as proven also by its later actions like what is happening in Hyatt hotels now in the US.

Started in 1957, the Chicago-based Hyatt Corporation has currently more than 430 hotel brands worldwide, including Park Hyatt, Andaz hotel, Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Regency, Hyatt Place, Hyatt house, Hyatt Resort and Hyatt Vacation Club. Grand Hyatt Manila, a 66-storey mixed-use hotel and office tower, is also being built in Taguig City.

Nuwhrain and APL are also members of the newly established labor center, the Sentro ng mga Progresibong Manggagawa or Sentro.

http://www.apl.org.ph/

Report this post as:
Share on: Twitter, Facebook, Google+

add your comments


© 2000-2018 Los Angeles Independent Media Center. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by the Los Angeles Independent Media Center. Running sf-active v0.9.4 Disclaimer | Privacy