Photo:  Elizabeth Maldonado Robinson, left, and Sister Justine Church,  right, from the Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice

By Jordan Schaffner

January 12, 2014 (La Mesa) -- With the church choir wearing Charger blue and gold in the background, Elizabeth Maldonado Robinson, Program Coordinator of the Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice and Sister Justine Church, Interfaith Committee treasurer, spoke about worker inequality  last Sunday, January 6 at the United Church of Christ of La Mesa. 

Maldonado Robinson said hotel workers earning minimum wage at the Hyatt in La Jolla are pressured to clean rooms within a certain time frame and often don’t receive breaks. When workers asked to speak to management collectively, they were refused. After objecting to this, a worker spoke to the manager in private. The worker was told she could have a break--but must take it in a closet filled with linens and toxic cleaning supplies. After many sanctions against workers, the manager finally agreed to let hotel workers organize--due to protests from the Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice of San Diego County.