Union Files Charges Against Park Hyatt for Heat Lamp Incident

By Chuck Sudo in News on Jul 28, 2011 8:20PM

The Park Hyatt workers associated with Unite Here! Local 1 aren't accepting the apology Hyatt management offered after a manager at the hotel turned on heat lamps above the workers as they staged a one-day strike during last week's heat wave. A press release we received in our inbox said that Unite Here! filed a complaint against Hyatt with the National Labor Relations Board regarding the incident.

Park Hyatt employees involved with last week's strike contend that the incident was an "assault." Hyatt responded by filing federal labor practice charges against Unite Here! for unlawful picketing. That's in addition to current charges the hotel chain already filed against Unite Here! on the grounds the union wasn't bargaining in good faith with them.

The two sides have been at odds since a collective bargaining agreement expired in 2009 over Hyatt's insistence on outsourcing some of its housekeeping work to nonunion firms. Workers claim that, while the compensation packages negotiated with Hyatt are satisfactory, they're a moot point if Hyatt can outsource the work to nonunion shops.