In a response to two recent incidents in which New York City hotel maids were sexually assaulted, the hotels at which the assaults occurred have given room attendants panic buttons that they can use to alert staff if they face danger. Union officials pressed for the added security measures.

The Wall Street Journal quotes the president of the New York Hotel & Motel Trades Council, which represents 30,000 workers:

“Let everybody in the world traveling to New York know that when they stay in a hotel room, the person cleaning that room is armed with a button that they can immediately press if you’re stupid enough to get inappropriate.”

The president of the council says the organization is pushing to mandate the alarms in all NYC hotels, and having that requirement written into the next labor contract.

If you’ve worked at a hotel, what threatening experiences have you encountered?

After Hotel Attacks: Panic Buttons [The Wall Street Journal via Boing Boing]

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