October 6, 2011
Congratulations to Rabbi Barbara Penzner for winning the Rabbis for Human Rights North America human rights hero award. Rabbi Penzner will be honored at A Celebration of Human Rights, on December 19th in New York City together with Rabbi Israel Dresner.
September 27, 2011
At the Chicago interfaith service for striking Hyatt workers on September 14, 2011, Rabbi Brant Rosen recited an alternative version of the High Holy Day prayer Avinu Malkeinu that he rewrote in honor of Hyatt workers. His prayer concluded with: "Avinu Malkeinu, may this be the year we bring justice and equity for the workers of Hyatt; Avinu Malkeinu, may this be the year we bring justice and equity for all who labor throughout the land." He also sang Pitchu Li, Psalm 118:19, "Open up for me the gates of justice so I may enter and praise the Holy One," which clergy sang together outside the first Hyatt shareholder meeting and that inspired the title of the clergy report on working conditions at Hyatt hotels. Read more...
September 1, 2011
Support for Hyatt hotel workers continues to grow. Rabbis for Human Rights-North America voted to sign the pledge and endorse the Hyatt boycott.
RHR-NA is an organization of rabbis from all streams of Judaism that acts on the Jewish imperative to respect and protect the human rights of all people. RHR-NA advocates on important human rights issues, among them rights of workers in Israel, and slavery and human trafficking in North America. With the endorsement of the Hyatt boycott, RHR-NA is strengthening the organization's ongoing commitment to the rights of workers. You can read their statement of support here.
As faith leaders, we believe that we have a moral responsibility to promote the just and ethical treatment of workers, and to intervene when powerful individuals or institutions seek to undermine their fundamental right as workers and as human beings. We have watched with deep dismay in recent years, as Hyatt, a multi-billion dollar corporation, has eliminated jobs, replaced career housekeepers with minimum wage temporary workers, and imposed dangerous workloads on those who remain.
This report the result of direct conversations with Hyatt workers across the U.S., details a broader practice by Hyatt that we find contrary to the religious traditions we uphold. (read more)
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