Occupy Hyatt: Harassed Hotel Workers (the 99%) Fight Back against Management (the1%)

By Jess Guh

The mainstream media likes to claim that Occupy Movement is comprised of aimless activists without concrete goals. They should go ask Martha and Lorena Reyes, two recently fired Hyatt housekeepers who know exactly why the 1% who run everything need to be occupied and what the 99% is demanding.

Until recently, the two sisters worked for the Hyatt Regency in Santa Clara, CA.  On October 14th, after 30 years of combined service, they were abruptly fired.

According to the Hyatt, they were terminated for “stealing company time.” The hotel alleges that they took ten minutes too long on their lunch breaks.  The Reyes sisters explain that housekeepers are assigned so much work that they frequently do not have time to take their legally-mandated, 10-minute break in the morning. It is routine and long-accepted by management for them and their coworkers to take an extra ten minutes during lunch to replace their missed break.

The Reyes sisters believe that they were actually fired for a different reason.  

Their story begins in September during “Housekeeping Appreciation Week.” On arrival to work, Martha was greeted with a collage of her and her coworkers’ faces digitally altered onto the bodies of women in bikinis. She was horrified and took down the picture of herself and her sister, Lorena.

Though it’s commonplace to see images of scantily clad women in the media, Lorena explains, “In my culture I was raised to be conservative with my body. I don’t like bikinis…  I felt very uncomfortable knowing my male coworkers were looking at that.”

Shortly afterwards, both women were fired.

On November 18th, the Reyes sisters filed retaliation charges with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.  Their lawyer, Adam Zapala, states, “[The Hyatt is] retaliating for [Martha and Lorena’s] opposition to their pictures. You have two long-term employees, with sterling work records, and then all of the sudden, they’re terminated. And they’re sisters. And then you go talk to other workers and they say they do this too [if they miss their morning break] and they’re not disciplined.”

Martha and Lorena allege they were fired for standing up for themselves.  And it has cost them. Because her husband has been laid off, Lorena is the sole supporter of her husband and three children. Martha has five children as well as legal custody of three grandchildren. Like many Americans, without this job, she is also worried she will lose her home...

For the rest of this article by JESS GUH in ThisCantBeHappening!, the new award-winning independent online alternative newspaper, please go to: www.thiscantbehappening.net/node/917