CWA Members Join Hyatt Picket Lines as Workers in Four Cities Strike

In Chicago, NABET-CWA (above) and Local 4202 members were among CWAers who joined Hyatt hotel workers striking for better working conditions.

In a big show of support for Hyatt hotel workers fighting for better working conditions, CWA members enthusiastically joined picket lines as UNITE HERE staged a week-long strike in four cities.

The strike in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Honolulu began last Thursday and ended today. It was UNITE HERE's first multi-day strike against Hyatt after a series of one-day pickets in various cities to put pressure on the company to bargain a fair contract. The last contract expired in August 2009.

"Hundreds of UNITE HERE members have stood side by side with us in our fight at Verizon. Now it is our turn to stand with them," CWA President Larry Cohen said.

CWA, TNG-CWA and NABET-CWA members were among scores of union members, as well as elected officials and community activists, who walked picket lines. "The local's offices, as well as ABC, NBC, and FOX locations where our members work, are only a couple of blocks from the Chicago hotel, so we were there as much as possible," NABET-CWA President Jim Joyce said.

The fight isn't about wages, but rather subcontracting and health and safety issues for housekeepers, many of whom have suffered injuries lifting mattresses and rushing to meet the demanding room-cleaning schedule. Many housekeepers are on pain medications and some have been permanently disabled.

Many CWA locals in California rallied and marched Wednesday with Hyatt workers in Los Angeles and San Francisco. In San Francisco, pictured, activists marched through the financial district from one Hyatt to another.

The injury rate is even higher at Hyatt hotels where workers have no voice. "Not far from my hotel in West Hollywood, at the Hyatt in Long Beach, workers have no union," housekeeper Cathy Youngblood says. "Conditions there are even worse. My sisters are required to clean twice as many rooms in one eight-hour shift, leaving them just 15 minutes for each room. That's 15 minutes to change bedding, scrub the bathroom, dust, vacuum, empty the trash, and change linens, among other things. It's no surprise that women are getting hurt."

Youngblood and other Hyatt workers are featured on the UNITE HERE website, www.unitehere.org, which also includes a list of Hyatt hotels where workers have called for boycotts.