WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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Plans for a new, seven-story Hyatt Place hotel in downtown Bloomington have drawn questions and criticism since they were announced this summer. Some city officials say they wish the building, which would be next to the B-Line Trail on Kirkwood Avenue, would have some dedicated commercial space, but developers say that’s not possible. And there’s concern because there won’t be a sidewalk on one side of Gentry Street, which borders the hotel on the east side. But many of the questions the Bloomington City Council asked last week centered on what kinds of jobs the new hotel will bring to the city. There’s currently an international boycott against Hyatt as a result of alleged workers’ rights abuses, and two former housekeepers told the City Council last week about long hours, heavy workloads and withheld pay at the Hyatt Regency in Indianapolis. When asked about these issues, developers working on the Bloomington hotel were quick to point out that Hyatt wouldn’t actually manage employees at the Bloomington location. While it would be a Hyatt hotel, management would be done by a separate company, White Lodging Services, based in Merrillville, Indiana. But White Lodging has its own troubled history with alleged worker abuse. Correspondent Joe Crawford brings us that story for today’s WFHB feature exclusive.
