Got Slavery?: Five Hotel Corporations Exposed (5)

Event #4

I had submitted an application to the Human Resources Department in June of 2014 and decided to inquire with the director about being interviewed for the vacant front desk position. Her response was, “Unfortunately that position has been filled with an internal transfer (e-mail, June 30, 2014).”  However, the Director’s reply was not true. I had learned that the breakfast bar attendant had not been promoted and the “internal transfer” still had not arrived when I made my inquiry.

Besides submitting a paper application, I had already submitted numerous applications online to their headquarters in Indiana. Isn’t Indiana the State that lures people from Illinois by claiming lower taxes?

Yes it is! Then why is one of their Indiana residents working in Illinois and at one of the hotels? I guess Indiana is NOT WORKING!?!

As of this posting, I have not seen this Indiana-based employee. It is a shame that when business is slow--in this case because of the cold weather--employers easily cut employees' hours. This would be different if servers like her had collective bargaining units.

Housekeepers is another group not allowed to form a collective bargaining unit. However, the Engineers—a.k.a. Handymen—have their bargaining unit. Almost all housekeepers are women and the handymen are entirely men. Moreover, other hourly and salaried employees also do not have a collective bargaining unit. The only group that has one is the Handymen.

Can you imagine being rejected for a position even though you qualify for it? Can you imagine being an hourly employee and never knowing how many hours your employer will give you? Can you imagine working in an environment where you cannot collectively bargain the value of your labor when another group can?

Got Slavery?: Five Hotel Corporations Exposed (4)

Event #3

One of the Supervisors at one of the hotels was pregnant during the time I began frequenting her hotel. I remember asking her, “Shouldn’t you be resting in your advanced state?” She then informed me that she could go on maternity leave 2 days prior to her due date. I gasped and repeated, “Two days?” Her maternity leave lasted 6 weeks before she had to “abandon” her newborn baby. I saw the Supervisor for a few days after she returned from leave and when I no longer saw her again, I asked her co-worker about her. She told me that the supervisor resigned to take care of her baby. I wondered whether she in fact resigned or if she was pressured into resigning. After all, employees are expected to be available at the will of management.

With the front desk position still open, I encouraged one of the Spanish-English bilingual employees—who I saw work as a breakfast bar attendant and housekeeper—to solicit the vacant position. She then told me that management at that hotel does not hire front desk personnel with children and since she has two children, she would not be considered. No one in management or other front desk employee is bilingual so having her in that capacity would have been an asset.

Likewise, I noticed that many of the hotels only hire young individuals to work at their front desks. Yet none of the hotels hire older for those positions.

Can you imagine being separated from your baby after six weeks? Can you imagine having a child/children and not having a permanent schedule? Can you imagine being told that you cannot be promoted because you have children? Can you imagine being told that you cannot hold a particular position because you are “too old?”

Got Slavery?: Five Hotel Corporations Exposed (3)

Event #2

I also learned that all employees must have flexible schedules. I heard one employee, who worked at the front desk at one hotel that she could not stay beyond her schedule because she was having a birthday party for her child. I did not see her much after that request. A second example is of a manager who I just learned has been working double shifts since October. A third example is of another front desk employee who I learned has worked double-shifts numerous times, which have included the third shift. One day I pointed-out how tired he looked and his only response was to shrug his shoulders. To me, his entire body language implied that he had no choice but to work the additional shifts.

These corporations are not the only companies to do this. I also learned that employees of CSX Corporation work more than 8 hours a day. (CSX Bedford Park Terminal is located next to Midway Hotel Center at 7000 W. 71st St; Bedford Park, IL.) One employee in particular returned to the hotel—where he and his coworkers are mainly segregated—informing everyone that he was exhausted and that he had just finished an 18-hour shift! Airline pilots and flight attendants are no exception. I have learned pilots and young, slim flight attendants work more than 8 hours a day. Like train conductors, airplane pilots drive modes of transportation that place their lives and those of innocent people in danger. One only needs to be reminded of Southwest Airlines Flight 1248 that slid off the runway at Chicago Midway Airport 

and killed Joshua Woods, a six-year-old. Everyone blamed the snow. However, this was not the first time that snow fell in Chicago history. I am led to believe that it was pilot fatigue that promoted that accident. After all this happened in 2005 during the Bush Administration and Southwest Airlines is a Texas-based company! 

It was also Bush who authorized the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to loosen the standards that have permitted truck drivers to drive for 10 consecutive hours. In my experience driving to and from Texas and Illinois in the recent years, I have seen numerous truck drivers speed over the limit and use the third lane illegally. I have officially termed them BULLIES OF THE ROAD. 

Some of these bullies are not fully qualified to drive semi-trucks. One only needs to be reminded of Ricardo Guzman, the truck driver involved in the fiery crash that killed six children near Milwaukee in 1994. (To read about it go to: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1999-08-27/news/9908270161_1_mini-van-wrongful-death-case-settlement) 

It was later revealed that Guzman, like many other non-English speaking drivers obtained "special" licenses by offering bribes to employees of the Secretary of State, known as the 'License for Bribes Scandal.' The federal government later determined that George Ryan, Secretary of State at the time and a member of the Republican Party, 

knew for at least 10 years that his offices were rampant with corruption and convicted him to five-years in prison.

 

Ryan was transferred from his home in Kankakee, IL to a medium-security prison. An employee at one of the hotels was also transferred; however, she was transferred to a Suburban location and was scheduled to start there within a week. She left and her front desk position was left vacant. In order to fill the necessity at the front desk, management asked one of the breakfast bar attendants if she could fill-in for them. I remember the attendant’s reply vividly because she hesitated to answer. After a few seconds she accepted and her personal life schedule was modified for the next two weeks.

Can you imagine being forced to work overtime? Can you imagine always having to readjust your personal life to the will of your employer? Can you imagine one's safety always at risk? Can you imagine being transferred all the time? Can you imagine an employer telling you that you are too old and/or too plumpy to be a flight attendant?

Got Slavery?: Five Hotel Corporations Exposed (2)

Event #1

This first event combines a few related situations. 

On one occasion, one of the housekeepers arrived to the sitting area located by the fireplace on the further West side of the lobby and informed the General Manager that she (housekeeper) was leaving her shift due to chest pain. She told her or reminded her that she suffers from a heart condition. I wondered at that time whether she, like other housekeepers at all the other hotels also has to clean 15 rooms during her shift. Moreover, it would seem that she should be working in another capacity. The GM told the housekeeper that indeed she could leave and signaled to another housekeeper to inform the others to “pick-up” her rooms. All this happened in front of the GM’s Regional Manager, who happened to be meeting with her, and me. In addition to the other housekeepers’ responsibilities, they had just inherited additional rooms.

On another occasion, a few housekeepers came to clean by the front desk in the lobby. I heard one of them complaining that she still had not had her lunch break and it was already well past lunch hour. If she still had not gotten her lunch break, it is very possible she still had not received her 2-15 minutes breaks either.

In my work with organizations in San Antonio, TX, the housekeepers at the Grand Hyatt also have to clean 15-16 rooms per shift. I also learned that many of the employees (in addition to housekeepers) had their tips stolen such as servers, runners, baristas, etc. Event planners, who I assume work entirely or partially on commission, must also have the same experience. Cash tips are easily stolen;
however, the use of POS software opens the possibility of numbers being manipulated by supervisors or management. The Hyatt Place Hotel will be opening soon at the Midway Hotel Center and I wonder if this thievery will surface IF NOT ALREADY.

Can you imagine cleaning 15 rooms in one shift with a heart condition and no lunch or breaks? Can you imagine being rewarded by customers for your hard work and then having your gratuity stolen? Can you imagine working for a commission to which you are fully entitled only to receive part of it or none of it at all?

Got Slavery?: Five Hotel Corporations Exposed (1)

Chicago Midway International Airport

                                                    
Got SLAVERY in the 21^st Century? Between May of this year to date, I spent countless hours at the hotels comprising the Midway Hotel Center, located less than a mile from Midway Airport at 6520 S. Cicero, Bedford Park, IL 60638. These hotels are the following:

1. Chicago Marriot Midway

2. Courtyard Chicago Midway Airport

3. Fairfield Inn & Suites Chicago Midway Airport

4. Residence Inn Chicago Midway Airport

5. Hampton Inn Chicago Midway Airport

6. Hilton Garden Inn Midway Airport

7. Holiday Inn Midway Airport

8. Holiday Inn Express Midway Airport

9. Sleep Inn Midway Airport

[Hyatt Place – opening soon] 

Additional relevant experience at:
-Grand Hyatt San Antonio

In all, five hotel corporations are represented:

Marriot International, Inc.,
Hyatt Hotels Corporation,
Hilton Worldwide,
InterContinental Hotels Group PLC, and
Choice Hotels.

All of the nine are managed by White Lodging Service Corporation (www.whitelodging.com).

The hours I spent at these hotels were initially at the Starbucks Café in one of the hotels. I stayed in the café and then one day, I purchased some coffee and moved out into the hotel lobby. It was there that I noticed personnel from outside business entities using the hotel facilities to conduct employment interviews and/or use the Internet without being hotel guests. I then thought that I too could use their Internet to continue in my job search and to conduct my online phone interviews. I had Internet access simply by being in range of it and clicking on a link. Accessing the Internet at some hotels was more direct; front desk personnel gave me the access codes. It was during my job search that I happened to observe numerous scenarios (both directly and indirectly). Now I was not searching for a job only, I was being drawn more and more into the culture of the hotel industry. I have prior experience related to the Grand Hyatt in San Antonio, Texas and this was an added opportunity to observe the culture of four additional hotel corporations—all concentrated across the border from Chicago in Bedford Park, IL, in other words, two blocks away from my mother’s house. It was an opportunity to better understand hotel culture as I continued the processes of my present-day job search. To protect the identity of employees, I do not use their real names or give them fake names. Instead, I have structured the scenarios into numbered events. The numbering is only to refer to the events and in no way constitutes sequential order. With each individual event, I coalesce analyses and offer questions for thought and discussion. My aim is to answer my initial question whether slavery still exists in the United States.

The Truth behind Pre-K 4 SA

H-E-B: ¡¿La derribaron al piso porque tenía hambre?! :: Edición Texas (Parte III)

http://youtu.be/mLE_-KxTnwI