Chicago hotel room attendants can now put their feet up and sip a cup of coffee twice a day—and get paid for it.
Judge James Henry of the Cook County Circuit Court upheld a law, fought for by Unite Here Local 1 union, which passed last year; it required Cook County hotels to give their housekeepers two paid 15-minute rest breaks per day for those working seven hours a day.
All three branches of Illinois government have given the nod to this law. The law was passed last year with the support of House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President Emil Jones, and was signed by Governor Blagojevich on August 15, 2005. But the Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association filed suit to overturn the legislation. With Judge Henry upholding the law, he adds the judicial stamp to the legislative and executive efforts to support the paid breaks.
The law goes a step further; it also stipulates that the hotel must "make available at all times a room on the employer's premises with adequate seating and tables for the purpose of allowing hotel room attendants to enjoy break periods in a clean and comfortable environment."
Unite Here Local 1, the union representing 15,000 hospitality workers in the Chicago area, stresses that hotel housekeepers—overwhelmingly female—have been struggling with increased workloads as hotels upgrade their bedding and amenities, according to its press release. While thicker mattresses, for example, ensure a comfortable stay for guests, they add extra weight and therefore extra strain to those stripping and remaking them.
"Housekeepers work hard to make Chicago visitors comfortable. They also work hard to raise their families. With a chance to take short rests each day, they will be able to do both things even better," said Henry Tamarin, President of Unite Here Local 1 in a statement.
Research Director for Unite Here Local 1, Lars Negstad was concerned that housekeepers get the information about the paid break. Chicago hotel housekeepers come from and all over the world—Latin America, Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa, as well as Chicago—to provide for their families. Some workers, dependent on Chinese or Spanish as their first language, may not hear the news.
Other workers may worry that despite this law, taking their now legal breaks may jeopardize their jobs. The law, however, makes clear that any effort on hotel management's part to fire, demote or otherwise penalize the employee for exercising this right will end in the hotel being required to offer restitution, either through reinstatement in the job or by having to pay employees for damages.
Negstad considers this case "a victory" for all hotel room attendants.
Unite Here Local 1 Working to Renegotiate Contracts
Unite Here is currently working with hotels across the nation to renegotiate employee contracts. According to a Reuters' report, Hilton Hotels Corp. "announced a five-year 'partnership for future growth'" on July 29th with the Unite Here union, "which has lined up hotel contract expirations in several cities this year as it seeks to improve wages and conditions and boost its membership."
The partnership plan includes working together "on growth where it makes strategic and economic sense, including card check agreements where appropriate," the Hilton said in a statement.
But in Chicago Unite Here has not always had success. Its Local 1 chapter has been involved in the longest strike in Chicago history, that against the Congress Plaza Hotel. In 2002, members of Unite Here Local 1 won a citywide hotel contract covering nearly all union hotels downtown. Workers won major wage and benefit increases. According to Unite Here Local 1's website, housekeepers who had been making $8.83 an hour now earn $11.05.
The Congress Plaza Hotel pulled out of the multi-employer association sometime in the mid-1990's. Until September 1, 2002, Congress workers had the same wages and benefits as most other downtown hotel workers. But since June 2003, after hotel owners cut wages and benefits, workers have been on strike.
Despite the strike, the hotel continues to run—and run poorly—the Unite Here Local 1 claims. The union website carries 14 comments from angry hotel customers who have complained of poor service and hazardous and unsanitary conditions. The union says there are hundreds of these comments.
One comes from Molly of Grand Rapids, Mich. who is quoted as saying "The paint is chipping off the walls, the light fixture in the bathroom is broken and exposed. There are cracks up the wall and I wondered if the sheets were clean, or if they'd been changed. It's definitely not what you'd expect from a hotel downtown."
These complaints seem a far cry from the attitude of hotel attendants who have learned of the Judge Henry's decision to give them paid breaks.
"I take pride in my work," Jackie Branson, a Housekeeper at the Hilton Chicago & Towers, said in a Unite Here statement. "Every Chicago visitor deserves a nice clean room. We fought for this law so we could be treated like humans, not machines."
Congress Plaza Hotel customers would, no doubt, have welcomed Ms. Branson's attention to their rooms.
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