Irma's VideoBlog

13 January 2015

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?

12 January 2015

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.