Strike at San Francisco's Grand Hyatt

Hotel workers walked off the job yesterday morning at the Grand Hyatt Union Square in San Francisco, starting a 3-day strike against the hotel. One issue is funding for health care of the housekeepers, cooks, dishwashers, bellpersons, servers, bartenders, and other workers who help make San Francisco a world renowned and welcoming city. In ongoing negotiations hotel management refuses to pay the money necessary so that workers can be assured of good health for themselves and their families.

Two weeks ago members of Unite Here Local 2 voted by over 92% to authorize strikes at any of 31 upscale hotel properties in San Francisco. Workers at the Grand Hyatt plan to return to work on Sunday.

Hyatt continues to pursue profit at any price. In Boston Hyatt recently fired all housekeepers at its three non-union hotels. They replaced them with workers paid about half of what the fired workers had earned. Meanwhile, the company’s CEO was paid $6.7 million in compensation in 2008, and its chairman received a bonus of $1.4 million.

Planning to stay at a hotel in San Francisco? Please honor the ongoing boycott at the Grand Hyatt.