IEA will hold state convention at Hyatt Regency.

Readers will remember that I have raised concerns about the IEA holding its March Representative Assembly (RA) at the Hyatt Regency in Rosemont. This became an issue last Spring when the Chicago-based Hyatt chain fired 100 housekeepers at three of their Boston Hotels.

I expressed my concerns to IEA President Ken Swanson in a letter. He never responded and has not responded to this day.

I did receive an email from Kathi Griffith, an IEA member who sits on the NEA Board of Directors. She assured me that the issue had come up at the October Board meeting and a full report would be presented in December.

Today I received this from Kathi:

Fred,
We hope that you had a wonderful holiday.

We wanted to get back to you regarding your concerns regarding Hyatt properties.

At our December NEA Board of Directors meeting we received information that NEA had gathered regarding this issue.  What they recommended was that “NEA boycott only the following Columbia Sussex hotels included on the Unite Here boycott list:  The Hilton Anchorage, Hilton Crystal City-National Airport and the Sheraton Baltimore-City Center.”

Unite Here focuses on individual properties and has not boycotted hotel owners or hoel (sic) brands.  The Columbia Sussex properties included on the boycott list are the ones listed in the paragraph above.  These three properties are in contentious bargaining disputes or have failed to negotiate successor agreements with employees who now work without a contract.

Columbia Sussex Hotels owns 71 hotels around the country including Courtyard by Marriott, Crowne Plaza, Doubletree, Hilton, Holiday Inn, JW Marriott, Sheraton Westin and Wyndham.  NEA currently has contract s with two Columbia Sussex properties, however niether is included on Unite Here’s boycott list.

We have the two page document that NEA gave to us that I would be happy to share with you, just ask.

Happy 2010,
Kathi and Al

When I checked on United Here’s web site, the Hyatt Regency in Rosemont is not on the boycott list. It does remain on the “Risk of Dispute” list.