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City Hotel Workers Walk Off Job


LORI PREUITT
06 Nov 09
Laborstart

A handful of hotel workers walked off the job Thursday morning in San Francisco.

They are holding a three-day strike at the Grand Hyatt Union Square. The hotel's general manager said he was surprised by the strike. David Nadelman said both sides were talking just yesterday.

According to the union, the timing coincides with an initial public offering by the Hyatt Hotels Corporation who they said pocketed $1 billions Thursday for the Pritzker family.

In a press release, a worker who has answered phones at the hotel for the past 13 years said the reason she walked off the job is health care.

"Hyatt's cashing out almost a billion dollars for its owners, but at the same time they're pushing to make health care unaffordable for me and my family," Aurolyn Rush said.

The walk out comes two weeks after hotel union workers authorized a strike at 31 hotels in the City.

Those on the picket lines said Thursday they will return to work Sunday.