To the long list of infamies against their workers, the Hyatt hotels have added their refusal to allow Unite HERE! Local 2 to make an administrative move of money between funds, something that would not have cost the company a single cent, but by prohibiting it especially harms the immigrant workers on their payroll.
This act confirms that Hyatt is an “anti-immigrant” employer, says Mike Casey, President of UNITE HERE! Local 2. The absurd thing is that, at least in San Francisco and according to Casey, 80 percent of Hyatt’s employees are immigrants.
Constituted of contributions from its members and employers, Local 2 maintains six different monetary funds. One of those funds helps with fees incurred by its members facing legal proceedings, such as eviction judgments, home foreclosures, divorces or adoptions. But the majority of the times the fund is used for citizenship proceedings expenses.
Besides the legal fund, the other funds are for education, to support children and elders, to assist members with HIV-AIDS, or to help with health care and pay pensions.
According to data from Local 2, in 75 percent of the cases workers seek aid from the legal fund in response to questions regarding immigration proceedings. Data also shows that the workers of Hyatt are the second most frequent users of the legal fund, according to the union.
In August of 2009 the contract between the majority of the hotels of San Francisco and Unite HERE! Local 2 expired. The hotels have refused to sign new contracts. The demands of the workers focus on a minimum wage increase (1.5 percent), health coverage to reasonable costs, better working conditions and the right to join the union or to create their own associations free of pressure.
In October of 2009, Local 2 members voted to pressure the hotels by means of sporadic labor work stoppages and by calling for a boycott of eight San Francisco hotels. Two other hotels, Le Meridien and Hyatt Fisherman’s Wharf, are also being boycotted, but for different reasons. Now, 15 months later, the strategy continues. The hotel owners have not yielded an inch, even though during this time their profits have grown.
The latest thrust by Hyatt against its workers occurred this month. The hotel chain asked the National Labor Relations Board to prohibit the union from moving some the money from the fund for the care of children and elderly to the legal fund. The idea of the union was to move the equivalent of 2 cents per paid hour.
The union explained that the reason was because of cost increases in immigration proceedings, which had reduced the legal fund. No other hotel questioned the 2-cent move.
“Even though this change does not have a financial impact on the employers and even though the refusal to relocate the funds could effect the legal assistance given to the workers, Hyatt tries to block the process in order to pressure us to sign a contract that favors the company,” stated a union press release.
To sustain a lawsuit in courts would have been very expensive, explained Casey. So, at this time, Local 2 accepted the condition imposed by Hyatt. “But the fight on this one and other demands continues in the streets,” clarified Casey.
On Tuesday January 18, Isaiah Galvez, an employee of Holiday Inn Civic Center, attended the demonstration against the Hyatt hotels at their establishment near Union Square. “The legal fund is very important for us,” said Galvez
Galvez, who is from Mexico, said that he used money from the fund to pay his citizenship proceedings. He added that if he had not had that support he would not have gotten his citizenship.
An effective way to support the union is to endorse the boycott against the hotels, which are listed on the website of Local 2 at www.onedaylongersf.org. They are the Grand Hyatt, Hilton San Francisco, Hotel Frank, Hotel Metropolis, Hyatt Regency Embarcadero, Palace Hotel, Westin St. Francis, W Hotel, Hyatt Fisherman’s Wharf and Le Meridien. The last two hotels are being boycotted because they have opposed their workers efforts to unionize.
If the Hyatt insists on haggling over a few cents, to the detriment of the workers, you can deny those hotels any dollars.
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