Hyatt Apologizes for Turning Heat Lamps on Strikers

By Chuck Sudo in News on Jul 22, 2011 2:12PM

In our Heat wave news roundup yesterday we linked to a WBEZ story about employees at the Park Hyatt who had heat lamps turned on over them as they were picketing during a one-day strike. Hyatt apologized this morning for that dick move, saying in a statement that the decision to turn on the heat lamps at 7 a.m. (with the mercury at 83 degrees and rising) was the decision of a Hyatt manager and was "clearly a decision that was not in line with our values or with our corporate policies."

The workers, represented by Unite Here! staged the strike over an obstacle in their long-running negotiations with Hyatt over the hotel giant's ability to outsource work to nonunion firms. Hyatt agreed a few months back to match wage and benefit demand with Unite Here!, but workers feel it's a moot point if Hyatt can move some of their work over to nonunion companies. Workers are also demanding lesser housekeeping workloads, which the union has been chronicling.