Mass. Governor's Hyatt Boycott Gains Support

(MoneyWatch)  Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick has declared a state employee boycott on Hyatt Hotels & Resorts for firing 100 housekeepers last month and outsourcing the jobs to a Georgia company, and his decision seems to be garnering public support.

Hyatt Hotels Corp. said it was a simply a cost-cutting measure to replace the Boston-area employees with cheaper workers from Hospitality Staffing Solutions. The about 100 workers came from the Hyatt Regency Boston, the Hyatt Regency Cambridge and the Hyatt Harborside at Logan.
Patrick's, and later the public's outrage, stemmed from employee accounts of Hyatt asking them to train the new workers, saying they were "vacation fill-ins" rather than their replacements.

In a letter to Hyatt chief executive Mark Hoplamazian, after being unable to change the CEO's mind, Patrick wrote: "This is not how I like to operate . . . but the treatment of these workers appears to be so substandard that it leaves me no choice. . . . You tell me that there are sound financial reasons for the company's decision . . .But the manner in which these workers were discharged is so inconsistent with both the expressed values of the Hyatt organization and basic fairness, that I do not believe any other remedy than full reinstatement is adequate." (The full, two-page letter can be found here.)

Hyatt's response was to lay blame at the feet of the governor rather than take any heat or responsibility, a spokesman saying that Patrick's ultimatum was putting more Hyatt workers at risk, including the 600 or so employees still working at Hyatt properties in Massachusetts. (Although Hyatt eventually relented a little by extending health care benefits for those laid off.)

But the most interesting part are the comments all over the Web. Most people seem to be siding passionately with the governor. Perhaps it's struck a common chord to those recently laid off, or maybe a sense of fairness to the public, but Hyatt is coming off very badly. From USA Today's sampler:

"Shame on Hyatt. I will never stay in a Hyatt property again. I will also encourage my 300,000+ colleagues to avoid all Hyatt properties."

"I applaud the governor on taking such a hard stance, and he is well within his right to protect the well-being of his citizens."

"I'm not comfortable knowing that there would be someone in my room who isn't a Hyatt employee. I think they'll lose business."

So far, I think the governor is the only winner here.

Photo of Gov. Deval Patrick courtesy of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts