Fired Hyatt workers, supporters rally

By Katie Johnston Chase, Globe Staff

A group of about 300 fired Hyatt hotel housekeepers and their supporters rallied at the Hyatt Regency Boston this afternoon starting at 5 p.m. for about 2 hours to protest the company's outsourcing of 100 jobs to an out-of-state staffing firm. US representatives Michael Capuano and state Senator Anthony Galluccio and Boston City Councilor Maureen Feeney showed up for the rally, but Stephen Lynch, who was also expected to attend, did not come to the protest.

The Hyatt Regency Boston, Hyatt Regency Cambridge, and Hyatt Harborside Hotel fired their entire housekeeping staffs Aug. 31 replacing them with workers from Hospitality Staffing Solutions. The Hospitality Staffing Solutions workers had been trained by the Hyatt employees, who said they were told the trainees would be filling in during vacations.

Janice Loux, president of Unite Here Local 26, which organized the rally for the housekeepers -- who did not belong to the union -- said she has been overwhelmed by the response. "I feel change coming," Loux said.