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?