Downtown Hyatt workers protest treatment

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Hyatt workers are fighting for the right to unionize and they're going to extraordinary lengths to make sure their voices are heard. They staged a protest outside the downtown Indianapolis hotel Thursday and 41 were arrested.

Hyatt workers say the hotel subcontracts much of the work, such as housekeeping services.

Hyatt employees claim the so-called temporary housekeepers work for Hyatt for years, earning minimum wage and no benefits.

Workers say the practice then drives down the wages for permanent employees and they believe the protection afforded by a union will bring change.

On Thursday evening, workers chanted, "Hyatt, Hyatt, enough is enough," as they protested outside the downtown hotel.

The red arch trademark of the Hyatt hotel took on new meaning on the signs of protesters who chanted in front of the downtown property.

That arch-adorned Hyatt name became the focal point of a frowning caricature - a symbol, protesters say, of a corporate giant that systematically puts profit over people.

"For me, being a single person, that I am unable to have health insurance and pay for parking and pay my rent," said Hyatt employee Chalice Starling.

She says she works full-time at the hotel making $10 an hour. And the hotel does not pick up the tab for employee parking.

"We do pay to park here, and its $80 to park here. It comes out of our paycheck," said Starling.

She says that leaves little heath insurance coverage.

So, in an act of civil disobedience, protesters blocked the sidewalk and were arrested in hopes if forcing Hyatt to allow employees to form a union.

Hyatt general manager Brian Comes would speak to us neither by phone nor on camera, but he did send us an email stating, "Hyatt supports its employees' right to choose whether they want to be represented by a union in a Democratic secret-ballot process."
But Joanne Sanders, a Democratic city-county councilor, argued, "The secret ballot can cause more intimidation from the employer to insure that those employees don't get representation."

Sanders was one of the protesters arrested on Thursday. She says instead of a secret vote to form a union, she and union organizers want a public one -- signatures on a card where a simple majority determines the winner.

Workers argue a union can bring about fairness worth fighting for.

"I have to stand up and represent what is right," said Hyatt employee Karl Frederiksen.

Although Hyatt workers attended the rally, no one was arrested.

Corporate leaders told them that arrest would mean they could be fired, so supporters agreed to be arrested in their place.