I’m lucky enough to have traveled across America and around the world — mostly on assignment as a journalist.

Being away from home is often exciting and usually interesting — but ask most anyone who travels a lot and they’ll tell you they’d rather be home, sleeping in their own bed.

When I am away from home and go to my hotel room, exhausted — I’m grateful for a spotless bathroom and clean sheets.  And I often see the housekeepers making their rounds, working hard behind a vacuum, pushing a cart with cleaning chemicals and cloths.  Most often they are women.  Nearly always they don’t speak much English.  They smile in greeting and move on, working hard all day or all night — and for not much money.

As Americans we take pride in saying we work hard.  As Americans we boast that hard work will give anyone the opportunity to live the American dream.

So I have to wonder what these hard-working housekeepers — who were doing their thankless jobs — did to deserve being treated so shabbily by the people who make these decisions at Hyatt?

Yes – times are hard.  Businesses need to make a profit or they go out of business.  But where does it say that it’s right and necessary to take it out on those who are barely getting by as it is?  And what about these outsourcing companies, that probably hire workers without papers, because they fly under the wage and benefits radar?

These are questions we need to ask — and answer– because that will tell us about who and what we are.  

We’d like to hear from you.
Thanks for listening… Jane.