The Hyatt hotel chain has issued an apology after heatlamps were turned on above workers who were striking out front of the Park Hyatt Chicago during a day when the heat index was 90 degrees.

MSNBC reports how last Friday about 25 workers were gathered out front to protest their going without a contract for two years. They started congregating at 5am. At 7 am, the heat lamps, which are for warming the entrance during the winter, went on for an hour.

The sweating started, “immediately,” said one striker. The workers reacted by chanting together, “Do what you want, we’re not leaving,” and “You can’t smoke us out.”

“Hyatt regrets the events that occurred at Park Hyatt Chicago and apologizes to everyone who was impacted by them,” said the hotel in a chain.

The bright idea to turn on the heatlamps belonged to a manager who was retiring that day. “If that hadn’t been the case,” Farley Kern, vice president of Hyatt corporate communications told MSNBC in an email, “we would have taken corrective action matching the seriousness of the conduct.”

I can see the movie now… “A grizzled hotel manager who’s seen it all… on his last day before retirement… decides to teach a lesson to those no-good strikers who aren’t grateful for having a job in the recession. If you need a dinner recommendation, don’t ask THE CONCIERGE. This summer, Chicago heats up.“

Hyatt apologizes for turning heatlamps on strikers [MSNBC] (Thanks to Justin!)

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