View Hyatt Protest Route in a larger map
Tomorrow afternoon, the fed up workers of the Hyatt hotels in San Francisco are planning a non-violent protest as part of a 15-city coordinated action for Hyatt workers’ rights.
The SFPD expects that over a thousand workers and supporters will take to the streets around 4:15 and march to the Grand Hyatt at Sutter and Stockton, where they plan on sitting down and blocking the entrance to the hotel.
The North America wide demonstration is organized by Unite Here!, a union that represents over 300,000 workers throughout the U.S. and Canada in the hospitality, gaming, food service, manufacturing, laundry, and airport industries.
According to the press release sent to the Appeal by Hotel Workers Rising!, other participating cities include Chicago, Honolulu, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Rosemont, Boston, Vancouver, Toronto, Miami, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, San Antonio, Santa Clara and San Diego. Civil disobedience lessons are even being given by the union to educate the newbie protesters.
Hospitality workers in San Francisco and San Mateo Counties are represented by the local affiliate union, UniteHere! Local 2. The Hyatt is not the only target of the union’s recent actions. Workers went on strike and have called for boycotts at 5 other hotels in addition to the 3 Hyatts in town.
According to Local 2’s press release about a walkout last month, the main issues at stake in San Francisco negotiations include workload protections, maintaining affordable health benefits, securing retirement, and protecting the right of non-union workers to choose freely whether to form a union.
Meanwhile, march organizers say that the Hyatt has been doing better than ever in these hard times. The hotel’s share has risen over 65% since it’s initial public offering 6 months ago (which made the Pritzker family a billion more dollars).
As previously reported, the management of the San Francisco Hyatts released a statement last month condemning the worker’s strike, saying that “the union should refrain from activities aimed at jeopardizing business in San Francisco during this unprecedented economic downturn and instead expend this energy at the bargaining table, where it belongs.”
If you would like to join (or avoid) tomorrow’s protest, the SFPD says that protestors will meet tomorrow around 4:15 on Market between 3rd and 4th St. The route will go as follows:
Market to Grant
Grant to Geary
Geary to Mason
Mason to Post
Post to Stockton
Stockton to Sutter (in front of Grand Hyatt)
