By
Allison Luthe, on July 29th, 2010
For the first time in Indianapolis’s recent history, 43 participants staged a mass civil disobedience in front of the Hyatt Regency downtown. Hospitality workers and community supporters of the hotel workers were there to stand up for the Hyatt workers who have been asking management to stay neutral since November of 2008. Among the 43 were two JwJ staff members, seven steering committee members and many other JwJ pledge signers.
On June 16, reports surfaced that the Hyatt had plans to sell the Hyatt Regency in Indianapolis, adding to the uncertainty that Hyatt workers in Indianapolis already face. Over the past decade, taxpayers in Indianapolis have invested $1 billion into the development of the local hospitality industry. The hotel and convention industry in Indianapolis is booming yet at the Hyatt Indianapolis, a non-union hotel, subcontracting of jobs is rampant, hours have been reduced in recent months, and workers earn some of the lowest wages of any
Continue reading Central Indiana JwJ supports Hyatt workers in civil disobedience action as part of nationwide protests
By
Sheila R. Tully, on July 29th, 2010
Members of Jobs with Justice San Francisco turned out in force to support UNITE HERE Local 2 hotel and restaurant workers as they took to the streets to demand a fair contract on July 22. Prior to the rally at Local 2 Plaza in downtown San Francisco, community activists, clergy, and union members packed a civil disobedience training session at Local 2 headquarters. There they reviewed plans to close the street in front of the Grand Hyatt in Union Square.
An hour later, as tourists stared in amazement and snapped photos, fifteen hundred people marched through the streets and converged on the Grand Hyatt, cheering and chanting in several languages in support of the hotel and restaurant workers. The boisterous crowd reflected the diversity of San Francisco as youth from POWER (People Organized to Win Employment Rights), PODER (People Organizing to demand Environmental and Economic Rights), Chinese Progressive Association and Young Workers United joined teachers, nurses, clergy, teamsters, longshoremen, many other union members and elected city officials to condemn
Continue reading JwJ San Francisco Sits Down to Support Hotel Workers Rising
