National Actions Against Billionaire Pritzkers and the Hyatt Hotel Chain

Truthout - On June 9, blue-chip Hyatt stockholders anxiously anticipating dividend announcements that would, perhaps, justify a nice evening on the town - maybe in one of the city's acclaimed five-star restaurants - assembled inside the plush Hyatt Regency McCormick Place in Chicago. Protesting outside, were hotel workers who had their own concerns about how to put food on the table. Hyatt employees average less than $30,000 a year in most of the country.

Stockholders, on the other hand, had good reason to expect a nice, big slice of the pie. Hyatt shares have ballooned 50 percent since the formerly privately owned company went public in late 2009. In that deal, Pritzker family owners alone netted close to $1 billion. The cash register has been ringing ever since.

The hotel union, UNITE-HERE, reports, "as recently as March 2010, Hyatt had $1.3 billion cash on hand - on average, nearly five times as much as any other hotel company." Read more.