From the National Emplyment Lawyers Association:
National Employment Lawyers Association Cancels With Hyatt Regency Boston Due To Labor Dispute.
The National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA) has cancelled its contract with the Hyatt Regency Boston because of a labor dispute involving the termination of the hotel’s housekeeping staff. NELA learned on Thursday, September 17, 2009, from various news reports that Hyatt Hotels had fired 130 housekeepers at its three Boston area hotels, including the Hyatt Regency Boston. The Hyatt Regency Boston was to be the site of NELA’s upcoming Fall Seminar, “Surviving Summary Judgment In Employment Litigation,” on October 23-24, 2009.
On September 18, 2009, several hundred hotel workers and their supporters rallied in front of the Hyatt Regency Boston in support of the fired housekeepers, while elected officials and others decried the Hyatt’s actions. “As an organization whose mission is to advance employee rights and serve lawyers who advocate for equality and justice in the workplace, we cannot patronize a venue that is the center of a very serious labor dispute,” said NELA President Bruce A. Fredrickson.
At this time, NELA does not anticipate canceling its seminar, and is working with INMEX (www.inmex.org), the non-profit arm of UNITE/HERE which provides socially responsible meeting planning services, to find another Boston area hotel for the same October dates.
Fred Klonsky 