WHO: Housekeepers from the Hyatt Regency Crystal City, union workers represented by UNITE HERE Local 25 in Northern Virginia, community and labor allies, and local elected officials.
WHAT: Hyatt housekeepers, as well as union and political allies, will protest outside of the hotel, chant, and hold signs that read “HYATT: No union contract.” Elected officials will be speaking to workers. Workers will be available to share stories about why they are organizing.
WHERE & WHEN: The Hyatt Regency Crystal City, 2799 Richmond Hwy, Arlington, VA 22202 on Saturday, July 27thfrom 5pm – 6pm, as well as the following two Saturdays, August 3rd and August 10th from 5pm – 6pm.
WHY: Although over 70% of housekeepers at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City signed union authorization cards, Hyatt began an aggressive anti-union campaign immediately after workers filed for a union election in mid-July. Hyatt’s campaign has included regular anti-union meetings and anti-
Representative Don Beyer, who represents Arlington County in the U.S. House, has pledged support for the workers of the Hyatt Regency Crystal City. Congressman Beyer is expected to speak in support of the Hyatt workers ahead of the picket this Saturday, July 27th. Other elected officials, including a member of the Arlington County Board, also plan on walking the picket line in support of organizing housekeepers. Virginia State Delegates Paul Krizek and Adele McClure walked the line with workers last weekend.
MORE BACKGROUND: UNITE HERE Local 25 has filed a wage theft complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor, alleging that Hyatt Regency Crystal City subcontractor J&B Cleaning is routinely not paying overtime for work done at the hotel and not paying workers for all hours worked. Local 25 has also filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge against Hyatt and J&B Cleaning over the use of non-compete policies which bar employees from working at Hyatt for a year if they leave or are terminated from J&B.
The Hyatt Crystal City is jointly owned by Hyatt and the Gould Property Company, a powerful local development group. Hyatt Hotels and Resorts is largely owned by the prominent Democratic Party Pritzker family, which includes Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and former Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, a high-level appointee of the Biden Administration as Special Representative for Ukraine’s Economic Recovery. The Penny Pritzker Family Trust owns Hyatt stock worth 10.8% of total voting power.
Multiple hotels operated by Hyatt in the D.C. metro area are involved in labor disputes with Local 25 over their alleged violations of federal labor law and union-busting campaign. A charge filed by the Union alleges that management at the Grand Hyatt D.C. illegally surveilled Hyatt and J&B workers.
As the worker organizing spreads from the Hyatt Crystal City and the Grand Hyatt Washington and workers begin to organize at the Park Hyatt, Hyatt Regency Tysons, Hyatt Regency Reston, Hyatt Regency Dulles, Hyatt Centric Arlington and Hyatt Regency Bethesda, federal employees may be forced to choose whether to cross picket lines late in a tense political cycle.
The federal government is a major customer of the Hyatt Regency Crystal City, and has spent over $4 million at the hotel in the past ten years. Federal customers of the hotel include the Department of Defense, Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Labor, with multiple branches of the military using the hotel for meetings monthly. Other non-union Hyatt hotels in the D.C.-area area are also used regularly by the federal government, like the Hyatt Regency Bethesda, which is frequently used for conferences by NIH and other federal health agencies.
The Hyatt organizing drive comes amidst a wave of new hotel organizing in the D.C. region and a historic contract victory for union D.C. hotel workers. Just last week, housekeepers at the Royal Sonesta Dupont Circle won union recognition. Last month, D.C. hotel workers overwhelmingly ratified a new contract that will see wages increase to $33 an hour by 2028, protect workers’ free health insurance, increase pension benefits, and preserve good, pre-pandemic working conditions.
UNITE HERE Local 25 is a hospitality workers union that represents 6,500 workers in D.C., Maryland and Virginia. Local 25 members are primarily immigrants and women of color.