Hyatt housekeepers file safety complaint
Housekeepers at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort and Spa joined with their mainland counterparts to file the first multicity injury complaint against the hotel operator with the U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety & Health Administration.
In addition to Honolulu, complaints were filed by workers at a dozen Hyatt properties in San Antonio; Chicago; San Francisco; Santa Clara, Calif.; Los Angeles; Long Beach, Calif.; and Indianapolis. Those properties employ more than 3,500 workers, according to a press release issued today by Unite Here Local 5, the hotel workers’ union.
Some Hyatt properties require room attendants to clean as many as 30 rooms a day, nearly double the industry standard, according to the union. Housekeeping duties include heavy lifting of beds, linens and other work that can strain the body.
The complaints recommend the hotels use fitted sheets to reduce the number of times housekeepers must lift 100-plus pound mattresses; 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 reasonable room quotas.
