Sep. 2, 2010 at 12:02 p.m.
Filed under:
Hotels,
Labor,
Unions
By Wailin Wong
Hyatt workers in Chicago are preparing to go on strike on Friday over unsuccessful contract negotiations.
The work stoppage, which is planned for an undisclosed Hyatt hotel in the Chicago area, will be the first strike of its magnitude since contracts for 6,000 hotel workers in Chicago expired in August 2009. Unionized hotel workers have staged other protests during the protracted contract negotiations, including brief walkouts at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers and the Hyatt Regency in downtown Chicago. Unite Here, the union representing hospitality workers, has focused on Chicago-based Hyatt Hotels Corp. and the Pritzker family, which controls the chain. Get the full story »
Aug. 5, 2010 at 9:48 a.m.
Filed under:
Earnings,
Hotels
By Associated Press
Hyatt Hotels Corp. said Thursday that it returned to a second-quarter profit as demand for its rooms increased, especially abroad.
The hotel owner said it earned $25 million, or 14 cents per share, during the quarter that ended in late June. That’s far better than last year’s loss of $50 million, or 34 cents per share. Last year’s results were hurt by hefty one-time costs that cut net income by 43 cents per share. Get the full story »
July 29, 2010 at 8:29 p.m.
Filed under:
Hotels,
Labor,
Tourism,
Unions
By Julie Wernau
In the wake of still-unsettled labor disputes, union workers from Chicago-area Hyatt hotels voted Thursday to authorize a strike.
The vote does not mean workers will strike. It authorizes the union’s negotiating committee to call a strike if it is deemed necessary. This was the second such vote since negotiations began. In October, Chicago hotel workers voted to authorize a strike at five downtown Starwood hotels. So far, they have not called for a strike.
Union contracts covering 6,000 workers at 31 hotels in downtown Chicago expired Aug. 31, and the two sides have been unable to reach a settlement, according to Unite Here Local 1.
On Thursday, members of Unite Here Local 1 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago, Park Hyatt, Hyatt McCormick Place and Hyatt O’Hare voted by a 92 percent majority to authorize a strike if necessary.
While the contracts affect workers at several hotel chains, Unite Here has focused its efforts on Chicago-based Hyatt and the Pritzker family, which controls the chain, holding them up as an example of management that it claims is using the economy as an excuse to take advantage of workers.
Hyatt has said that negotiations are best left for the negotiating table.
July 8, 2010 at 4:28 p.m.
Filed under:
Development,
Hotels
By Associated Press
Hyatt Hotels Corp. said it is revamping and reopening its Hyatt Regency New Orleans in fall of 2011. The operator said it will launch a multimillion redevelopment of the 1,193-room hotel located adjacent to the Louisiana Superdome.
June 9, 2010 at 3:06 p.m.
Filed under:
Hotels,
Labor
By Julie Wernau | At its first shareholders’ meeting as a public company Wednesday, Hyatt
Hotels Corp. faced protesters dressed as money-grubbing rats and dozens
of religious leaders who compared Hyatt’s labor practices to Pharaoh’s
enslavement of the Israelites.
The Chicago-based hotel chain, which is largely controlled by the
Pritzker family, went public in November and has been under fire by
government, religious and labor leaders since August when it fired 98
Hyatt housekeepers in Boston and replaced them with cheaper, outsourced
labor.
Get the full story »
June 7, 2010 at 4:14 p.m.
Filed under:
Hotels
By Julie Wernau
| Hyatt Hotels Corp. said Monday that the hotel chain’s first annual meeting as a public company is closed to the media.
“Since we are a newly public company, this meeting is only open to
stockholders, which is not an uncommon practice,” said Farley Kern,
spokeswoman for Chicago-based Hyatt.
Get the full story »
