Things are heating up at a few Hyatt’s around town. Housekeepers at 12 Hyatt-managed hotels in eight U.S. cities have filed a complaint with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, reporting injuries on the job sustained from repetitive motion, including lifting mattresses and slipping in wet tubs and showers.
As reported in an article from Chicago Breaking Business, housekeepers are asking the government agency to order Hyatt to use fitted sheets to reduce the number of times that women must lift 100-plus pound mattresses to tuck sheets; to offer long-handled mops and dusters, so workers do not have to get down on their hands and knees to clean the floors or climb bathtubs to reach high surfaces; and to enact “reasonable room quotas, so women no longer have to rush to finish rooms, risking slips and falls.”
The claim is being backed by the Unite Here union, which also states that workers are scared to report injuries for fear of losing their jobs. In addition, the claim states that Hyatt management has created a monetary disincentive for reporting injuries called “Safety Bingo,” with a lottery prize for housekeepers that grows every day that no injury is reported.Hyatt Hotels Corp. says its safety practices are up to code and the hotel also provides housekeeper training that includes using the proper techniques to minimize mattress lifting and preventing injuries.
Complaints were filed by workers in San Antonio, Chicago, Honolulu and Indianapolis, and four California cities: San Francisco, Santa Clara, Los Angeles and Long Beach.
Robb Webb, Hyatt’s chief human resources officer, filed a response to the OSHA filings saying “Unite Here is making false charges about our work environment in Hyatt hotels that are currently trying to negotiate new union contracts for Hyatt associates and in markets where the Union’s main goal is to increase its membership…Today’s actions are the latest in Unite Here’s year-long campaign against Hyatt that has included demonstrations, boycotts and strikes organized with the hope of chasing away business from our hotels, an approach which is hardly in the best interest of our associates, many of whom are its members.”
Read the full response letter from Hyatt on HotelsMag.com.