Hyatt Hotels and UNITE HERE Announce Agreement Affecting Housekeeping Staff
End of Global Boycott of Hyatt is Near
By Catherine Singley
NCLR is elated at the news that Hyatt Hotels and UNITE HERE, the union of hospitality workers, reached a breakthrough agreement yesterday on contracts in four major cities where Hyatt housekeepers have struggled for better working conditions and a fair process for organizing. In February, NCLR, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) and the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA) joined a global boycott of Hyatt hotels in response to widespread evidence of harmful working conditions for hotel housekeepers, who are predominantly women of color, including Latinas. The groups pledged to not hold any conventions, conferences, special events or major meetings at Hyatt hotels covered by the boycott.
According to a joint press statement by Hyatt and UNITE HERE, “the contracts will provide retroactive wage increases and maintain quality health care and pension benefits. The proposed new contracts would cover associates into 2018. A key provision of the agreement establishes a fair process, which includes a mechanism for employees at a number of Hyatt hotels to vote on whether they wish to be represented by UNITE HERE.”
The global boycott will officially end after ratification of the contracts in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Honolulu, and Chicago. NCLR will continue to monitor the progress of the settlement and looks forward to the resolution of this matter.
Hyatt and UNITE HERE’s announcement has already attracting significant media attention:
Hyatt, Unite Here reach tentative deal, Chicago Tribune
Hyatt and union agree on terms, The New York Times
Hyatt Hotels, union resolve dispute, The Miami Herald
Hyatt Hotels reaches contract with union, resolving longtime dispute, The Washington Post
Hyatt, union group end three-year dispute, San Francisco Business Times
Hyatt, Unite Here reach union deal, Hotel News Now
A good day for hotel workers, The American Prospect
