Victory: Hyatt Workers Given New Jobs

by Leigh Graham · 2009-09-25 14:23:00 UTC
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Hyatt announced today that the 98 workers it "unceremoniously" laid off last month will be given new jobs in Boston at their previous rate of pay - the positions will be through the staffing agency that employs their replacements.  This is a good but qualified victory: their current pay is guaranteed through the end of 2010, and Hyatt has extended their health benefits through March 2010.  For workers who opt instead to go through a career retraining and placement program, they will receive their previous wages through March 2010 or until they secure new employment, whichever comes first.

Many thanks to those that joined the boycott against Hyatt; it was a small but important movement here at Change.org, and part of a much larger response in Massachusetts and beyond.

As folks mentioned in the Hyatt comments thread, these are not the only workers to be laid off, Hyatt is not the only corporation to engage in low-road strategies, and Governor Patrick is a questionable ally for some.  I'm still trying to figure out why some issues and events are more attention-grabbing or seem more egregious to us than others.  Perhaps in this case the treatment of the workers - and pitting of workers - at the bottom of the economic ladder was just more obvious or heart-wrenching, and these workers - with the help of unions - got the Governor's attention.  At a moment when he needed some good press.

I'm proud and thankful that Change.org members joined together to let Hyatt know we won't tolerate this corporate behavior.  I received an e-mail from Hyatt yesterday justifying their actions, telling me I was operating according to misinformation.  We got their attention - and this is an important victory!  Good work, people.

(The Hyatt Regency in Cambridge, in photo "Charles River Sunset" by Stewart Dawson)

Leigh Graham
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