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Hundreds walk off the job at the Sheraton Chicago |
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Facing layoffs and cuts as travel business rebounds, hotel workers protest
At 10:45am Tuesday morning, nearly 200 hotel workers at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers, managed by Starwood Hotels, walked off the job in protest of layoffs and chronic understaffing that have persisted for months despite a big boost in travel business and rising Starwood profits. Hundreds of housekeepers, cooks, dishwashers, bellmen and other hotel workers picketed the hotel for two hours before returning to work around 1:00pm. Workers report that working conditions at the Sheraton have deteriorated over many months, with staffing cuts that have continued, even as travel business has rebounded. In recent months, workers have filed a number of unresolved grievances to curb the staffing cuts and growing reliance on subcontracted services, which have left many hotel workers in Chicago without jobs or benefits. Today, workers led a delegation to Sheraton General Manager Rick Ueno demanding relief from the growing strain of their work. Thus far, management has refused to adequately respond to worker concerns. “This is peak travel season in Chicago, but Starwood just isn’t bringing people back to work,” says Jorge Mulasano, who has worked as an Assistant Sous Chef at the Sheraton for 7 years. “I walked off the job today, because I’m tired of our work being outsourced or doing the job of two or three people, when others still have no work at all.“ |
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A Thriving Industry Built on Low-Compensated Temp Workers |
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Chicago News Cooperative By Kari Lydersen Tory Moore worked at the same packaged-food warehouse in Kankakee for six years, but he was denied a loan and apartment rentals after being told he did not have a real job. Mr. Moore, 37, was a “perma-temp,” one of thousands of workers in the Chicago area’s massive warehouse complexes who are laid off and rehired every few months by temporary-staffing agencies. He said he never received paid vacation days, holidays, sick days or affordable insurance. He was fired in December, he said, for rallying other workers to demand better conditions. “I’m someone who loves to work hard,” he said, “but you want the company to make you feel appreciated.
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Workers at four more Chicago hotels authorize strike action |
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Workers Independent News--Listen here
Workers at four more Chicago hotels have voted to authorize strike action. The vote gives the negotiating committee the power to call a strike at the Chicago Hilton, Hilton O’Hare, the Palmer House Hilton, and the Drake. Three groups of workers represented by UNITE HERE have voted in favor of strike action since October of 2009. That brings the total number of hotels that could see strike action to more than a dozen. Union contracts with 31 hotels in downtown Chicago expired last August. |
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