Hyatt Protests Expand to Chicago, Others Join Boycott

(MoneyWatch)  Although the controversy is only a little over a week old, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick's threatened boycott and letter to Hyatt Hotels Corp. chief executive Mark Hoplamazian over 100 fired housekeepers has gone viral, with protests against Hyatt in Chicago and San Francisco. In another development, Boston cabbies -- or their union, the Boston Taxi Drivers Association -- have also joined in the Hyatt boycott.

The hundred or so housekeepers were fired after reportedly training their replacements from the Georgia-based Hospitality Staffing Solutions, who were described by management as "vacation fill-ins."

The public reaction seems to be overwhelmingly in favor of the housekeepers, on blogs like the Consumerist, the Harvard Business Review and the Boston Globe, with hundreds of comments on each story. The controversy seems to have struck a chord in people who either are fed up with corporate downsizing, have been laid off themselves, or just may be upset about the injustice of it.

From HBR:

I bet Hyatt's competitors are jumping for joy. The Hyatt brand just sustained a laceration that will cause the corporate body to become septic.
As a current Hospitality executive with an International Luxury chain, as well as a former Hyatt Director, I must say that I am extremely surprised and upset at the decision made at Hyatt's Boston properties. There is no doubt that the economy has played a role in the decision made by Execs at Hyatt. . . . Our employees are the basis of our business. They are the ones that are on the front lines, taking care of our guests needs. They are the one's that day in and day out are doing the tasks that build the foundation for what our guests pay for and expect. In most cases, they are loyal to both the brand and the management of the property and while they may not always agree with what Management decides, they carry out and execute the work that hopefully brings our guests, convention goers an leisure travelers back to our Hotels and brands, time after time.

From the Consumerist:

Classic outsourcing BS..... save a buck off the backs of the minimal wage employees. Next time outsource the hotel manager. I bet we can find somebody who will do the job for half the salary, which would save a lot more $ than reducing the salary of a few maids.
Also not mentioned in the story is that $8/hour is the minimum wage in Massachusetts. So when the outsourced service company says they are paying a "competitive" wage they really mean that they are paying the absolute minimum that they can legally get away with. Shameful all around. This is one case where I hope Hyatt gets buried under an avalanche of bad PR.

From the Boston Globe:

Bravo, housekeepers. It's really great to see people out there making their voices heard and to see the little people standing behind one another. And a big bravo to the taxi drivers union. I'm impressed. This is fantastic. It truly is. Glad to see people are getting sick and tired of being treated like an old shoe and doing something about it.
Yes, let the market forces work freely. Let consumers freely choose to spend their dollars elsewhere because of the repugnant behavior of Hyatt management! What goes around comes around.

The public relations powderkeg seems to have done something. On Sept. 23, Hyatt created a "task force" for the laid-off workers that extended its severance package health benefits to the end of the year and is now offering retraining. Of course in that same statement, Hyatt also managed to lay the blame and responsibility not on themselves but firmly on the governor, "We do not understand why the Governor is putting more Massachusetts jobs at risk instead of working with us to find jobs for employees affected by the realities of these unprecedented economic challenges." That was an unfortunate sally by Hyatt, it came off hollow and entirely self-serving -- as if they hadn't laid off the 100 housekeepers making $10-$15 an hour.

While the protests in Chicago and San Francisco are labor union-based, who can blame them? This is a case study of corporate irresponsibility and injustice -- why not use it to their advantage and threaten boycotts elsewhere? Hyatt handed them the ammunition and labor unions are now going to use it.

In the meantime, Hyatt doesn't seem to have a PR strategy, as Globe reporter Katie Johnston Case told PRNewser, and won't give interviews to the press. However, Save the Hyatt 100 now apparently has a Facebook page.
Call it a day, Hyatt. You've been outmaneuvered.