Fired Hyatt Housekeepers Reject So-Called Job Offer

I would have boycotted regardless (6.00 / 1)

Hyatt is cutting corners on their service. Quality is very clearly not a priority for them, so why would I want to stay with them even if the fired housekeepers accepted the new jobs?

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by: HR's Kevin @ Mon Sep 28, 2009 at 17:22:06 PM CDT

Full reinstatement (6.00 / 1)

Hyatt should fully reinstate those housekeepers. From the globe article

"We want our jobs back, nothing else," said Lucine Williams, who worked at that downtown Hyatt for nearly 22 years. "We will not accept temp positions that are designed to put others out of work."

One person from Wisconsin added his name to our Hyatt petition today. What he wrote was a bit too long for the main page, so the entire text is on the news page instead. Here's a piece of what he wrote:

Until and unless Hyatt rehires the housekeepers it recently laid off in Boston, with full back pay and seniority, I will do all I lawfully can (1) to avoid doing business with Hyatt and (2) to urge others to consider the facts when making any decision as to hotels.

We, the working people of America, have a right to stable, decent jobs that will not be sacrificed to corporate incompetence and greed.

Let's make Hyatt the ground on which we, America's sovereign workers, finally take our stand and take back our country, our economy, our rights, and our futures.

To Mark S. Hoplamizian and his out-of-touch pals in their comfy executive suites, I say: Got that? Change your ways now.

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by: hyattboycott @ Mon Sep 28, 2009 at 19:30:59 PM CDT

"We had to destroy the village in order to save it" (0.00 / 0)

About 25% of the housekeepers are Reality Based.  The ones insisting on their old jobs back can 'unanimously' join the UAW workers saying the same thing.

Yr. Obedient Servant, Peter Porcupine, Republican

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by: Peter Porcupine @ Mon Sep 28, 2009 at 21:49:51 PM CDT

so 25% are progressives... (6.00 / 1)

...and the rest are future members of the Mass GOP State Committee?

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by: huh @ Mon Sep 28, 2009 at 22:32:18 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Peter - Hyatt did not have to destroy decent jobs to stay in business (6.00 / 4)

At some point corporate greed must be fought or it is corporate greed that is destroying representative democracy.

Why should one man in a posh office receive six million dollars - and 98 people lose decent jobs where they could keep a roof over their heads at $15 an hour and hotel guests were guaranteed stable, honest services in favor of indentured servants who must work two jobs at $8.00 an hour with no benefits, constant turnover, and no guarantee of stable or diligent services for Hyatt's guests?

Frankly, I am impressed by the courage and integrity of those 77 housekeepers and sick and tired of the degradation of working people by the caste of greedy neo robber barons for whom no amount of profit ever is "enough".

Deborah Sirotkin Butler
AmberPaw dot @aol.com

"Failure to plan is planning to fail."
Proverb

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by: AmberPaw @ Tue Sep 29, 2009 at 07:12:30 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

The Reality Is That The Housekeepers Are Winning (0.00 / 0)

If they can keep this in the papers long enough, Hyatt'll give them whatever they want.

- Manny

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by: MannyGoldstein @ Tue Sep 29, 2009 at 11:57:23 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Remember To Thank Deval ... (3.17 / 6)

Without Deval's help Hyatt would never have been able to find the exploitable foreign HB visa workers that they replaced their housekeepers with. Hyatt is just using the tool Deval gave them. Remember to thank him while you are enjoying the fruit of his labor ...

http://www.competeamerica.org/...

http://blog.vdare.com/archives...

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by: ToxicWaist @ Tue Sep 29, 2009 at 07:41:14 AM CDT

Deval asked for H1B not H2B (6.00 / 2)

H1B visas are for skilled white-collar workers. Now one can well argue against those visas as well, but it has nothing to do with the Hyatt situation.

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by: HR's Kevin @ Tue Sep 29, 2009 at 07:56:23 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

So If (4.00 / 2)

So according to you, there would be a big difference if Hyatt had instead fired their plumbers and electricians and replced them with Hatian green carders, but when they went after the housekeepers instead ... well that makes all the difference to you?
There is no difference. You ruin one persons life its the same as ruining anyone elses.
You know this and Deval "we need unlimited visas now" Patrick knows this. Kudos Deval.

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by: ToxicWaist @ Tue Sep 29, 2009 at 08:10:18 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Yo toxic (6.00 / 1)

Neither plumbers nor electricians are white collar, and not H-1B-esque.

Engineers, accountants, managers, educators, doctors... those are H-1Bers.  It would indeed be a big difference if a skilled worker were displaced -- the fact is, there are other god jobs for those with H-1B skill sets.  This is totally different -- these are folks who's skill sets include hard working, trustworthy, and reliable.  Those are skill sets you can't put on a C.V.

I suspect you're not interested in honest debate... just pissing in the corn flakes.  Well, have at it.

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by: stomv @ Tue Sep 29, 2009 at 08:22:45 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Try Debating Durbin .. (4.00 / 1)

Glad to see that you are still buying into that hype. I often wonder if anyone does or if the story keeps being repeated for background noise effect.
Fortunatly Durbin gets it, along with a handful of others.

http://durbin.senate.gov/showR...

The "opportunities" presented in the effected H1B fields are in education, as in if the debunked tale of opportunity doesnt continue to be circulated than there will be less need for teachers to train people for entry into the overcrowded fields.
Sure there are also wonderful opportunities for the displaced technical workers themselves, similar to that handed these housekeepers, home depot, lowes ect .... a temporary rung down on the way to the bottom. Only difference is that for techinical workers  ... they have to find that step themselves and dont have the opportunity handed to them (only to be rejected) in part do to the patronizing belicose rhetoric of certain disingenuous politicians.

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by: ToxicWaist @ Tue Sep 29, 2009 at 09:00:45 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Not that you care (6.00 / 2)

This is what it takes to get an H1B visa. Just a couple of excerpts:

The person must hold a U.S. bachelor's or higher degree from an accredited college or university and the degree must be required to qualify in the specialty occupation.
...
The employer will be required to pay 100% of the prevailing wage.

Shoe bomber, underwear bomber -- why aren't we waging war on clothes?

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by: kirth @ Tue Sep 29, 2009 at 09:00:07 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Well Whoop De Doo (3.00 / 3)

Take note of this then and by all means drop out of high school now. You will be protected.
Whatever you do dont make the mistake of joining the other half of the population holding a BS or better.
By the way, what does it take for a school in India or Malaysia to be considered "accredited"? Having met a number of recent engineerin "graduates" who needed to be trained on such things as how to use email, excel and the like I wonder about this. I also wonder what else these people dont know or didnt before the technology "transfer" took effect ...

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by: ToxicWaist @ Tue Sep 29, 2009 at 09:13:11 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Did you miss (6.00 / 1)

the 'U.S.' in "U.S. bachelor's or higher degree from an accredited college or university"?

Maybe your 'engineerin' courses should have included some remedial reading.

Shoe bomber, underwear bomber -- why aren't we waging war on clothes?

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by: kirth @ Tue Sep 29, 2009 at 09:18:32 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Read On .. (0.00 / 0)

There is an entire paragraph of "special" disclaimers right under that part you focus upon.
For some odd reason the website you picked has the right click option disabled so I can not copy or paste the paragraph ... odd huh, never saw that?
Having been through the grind myself I will tell you as fact that anyone qualifies for an H1B if they have a sponsering organization that will sign off. Fact.
Thats the reason for the inclusion of the fuzzy paragraph about equivilancies and "life experiences". Anyone qualifies if they are the right anyones.

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by: ToxicWaist @ Tue Sep 29, 2009 at 09:30:45 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Through the grind? (0.00 / 0)

You're saying that you've applied for an H1B visa yourself? I'm skeptical.

Those "special disclaimers" are all exemptions to the part I excerpted, and they all require their own additional documentation. There is no mention there of "life experiences" as you claim. Fact.

None of which, as HR's Kevin and stomv point out, has a damned thing to do with the Hyatt workers.

Shoe bomber, underwear bomber -- why aren't we waging war on clothes?

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by: kirth @ Tue Sep 29, 2009 at 11:52:37 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

The Grind .. (0.00 / 0)

The grind is the recieving end of visa "benifit". In my case the grind would be the power systems division of General Electric Corporation, a (once) wonderfully diverse operation which has an unusualy exotic feel to it, despite its physical location in Schenectady NY. They have a little program there with Adecco Technical that lands them fresh talent in return for housing assistance and an on site "mentor" whom is familiar with their native languages and customs and can assist them in such matters as how to go about "investing" their paychecks into company stock, an offer few dare refuse.
As to your quibling about ... exemptions or disclaimers, whatever you choose to call them dude, its laughable you choose to ignore their mention and instead pompously spout about some supposed need for a US granted degree .... lol
Your "exemptions" are the listing of the reasons that everyone you are likely to meet holding an H1B visa has never set foot in America until the day they began work, work which typicaly begins with a lengthy in house "training" program offered by the soon to be "retiring" employees whom feel the urge to suddenly pursue other career paths such as the opportunity to become an ebay reseller.  

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by: ToxicWaist @ Tue Sep 29, 2009 at 12:51:24 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

You're wrong (0.00 / 0)

I know a lot of H1B visa holders, past and present. Every single one has a degree from a U.S. school. I'm afraid you don't know what you're talking about.

I can't tell from your highly stylish tale about GE just what they did to you, but it must have been traumatic.

Shoe bomber, underwear bomber -- why aren't we waging war on clothes?

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by: kirth @ Tue Sep 29, 2009 at 13:28:15 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

US degree is not an absolute requirement (0.00 / 0)

I have worked with several H1B holders with foreign degrees. Having said that, I have not found their education inferior to that from US schools.

I am willing to believe that there is abuse of the H1B program, but I have not seen it personally. The two companies I worked for that hired H1B workers did so during the internet boom when there was a genuine shortage of skilled software engineers. Neither company realized any significant savings by hiring under H1B.

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by: HR's Kevin @ Tue Sep 29, 2009 at 13:43:11 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Pure self-defensive rationalization from you (6.00 / 1)

Look, I think what Hyatt did was terrible, but this has nothing to do with H1B visas. Your pig-headed insistence that it does says more about your need to be right then it does about the topic at hand.

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by: HR's Kevin @ Tue Sep 29, 2009 at 10:01:34 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Visa Holders Doing What They Do .. (3.00 / 1)

So whats the gripe on your part then... here we have a story about work visa holders doing what it is that they do, doing exactly what they were brought here to do ... do jobs that are already being done but do it for far less.
You're either for this concept or you're against it .. you cant be for it sometimes and but against it other times.
That would make you DISINGENUOUS, wouldnt it?

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by: ToxicWaist @ Tue Sep 29, 2009 at 10:16:58 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

My gripe is you are distorting the facts (0.00 / 0)

which just plays into the right wings hands.

Also, do we know for sure that any H2B workers are actually involved in this deal? AFAIK, all we know is that the staffing company does hire some H2B workers.

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by: HR's Kevin @ Tue Sep 29, 2009 at 10:26:12 AM CDT

[ Parent ]