Hyatt clearly wasn't expecting anyone to notice when
heat lamps were turned on over a picket line in the middle of a heat wave; they turned the lamps off as soon as the press started showing up. But the bad publicity and a
weak apology aren't putting the issue
to rest:
Charges filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) by UNITE HERE Local 1, the union representing housekeepers, dishwashers, bellmen and other hotel workers at the Park Hyatt Chicago, contend, "The employer assaulted the employees and tried to fry them by shining heat lamps on them in the middle of what was already a hot, humid day."
Not content with quietly racking up an impressive array of health and safety citations, Hyatt seems to be doing a more dramatic city by city rollout making people aware of its awful treatment of workers. First they made a splash in Boston by firing their longtime, decently-paid housekeeping staff and replacing them with minimum-wage workers. Now it's heat lamps in Chicago. What might come next—will they be throwing water balloons at a picket in Minneapolis next winter?
Hyatt's disregard for its workers isn't something that will be undone in a day or a single NLRB charge, but UNITE HERE is clearly in it for the long haul.