Worker protest at Hyatt results in 41 arrests

[IndianaGreen]

Worker protest at Hyatt results in 41 arrests

Issues of pay, use of temp workers, efforts to unionize fuel sit-in

By Tom Knox
Posted: July 23, 2010

Karl Frederiksen has been a model employee of the Hyatt Regency Downtown and makes pretty good money, especially compared with some of his co-workers. But he's tired of what he sees as the hotel's use of subcontractors to skirt fair pay and benefits.

"These temporary employees are being used in a full-time manner, as permanent workers with no benefits. They have no health insurance, no retirement, nothing," he said. "This is unfair.

An employee of the month in 2002, Frederiksen, 55, wanted to be locked in arms with his fellow Hyatt employees Thursday, protesting what they see as injustice. He and some co-workers have been trying to organize a union at the hotel for years.

But to avoid possibly being fired, he could only watch as 41 supporters, some from neighboring hotels and including City-County Council member Joanne Sanders, were arrested and preliminarily charged Thursday with a misdemeanor count of obstructing sidewalk traffic while participating in acts of civil disobedience.

The protest was part of a coordinated nationwide effort by Unite Here among hotel workers in 15 cities. Indianapolis workers are upset over reduced work hours, temporary workers who end up working for years with low pay and no benefits, and uncertainty over the possible sale of the hotel, protesters said.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20107230341

Earlier thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=151x7641