US hotel chains to give staff panic buttons
The nation’s largest hotel groups have pledged to equip hospitality workers with panic buttons.
The devices will be supplied to ‘tens of thousands of workers’ along with anti-harassment training, said Katherine Lugar, CEO of the American Hotel and Lodging Association.
Lugar announced the initiative at a news conference alongside executives from Marriott International, Hyatt, IHG, Wyndham and Hilton.
“This is an ongoing challenge. No industry is immune from dealing with issues of sexual harassment,” Lugar said.
The hotel chains will roll out the devices to all relevant workers by 2020.
Responding to the media attention given to the ‘me too’ movement, cities around the country have passed laws to mandate the supply of panic buttons to hotel workers, including Seattle, Chicago and Miami Beach.
It was described as ‘a step in the right direction’ by hotel workers union Unite Here, which wants to see more meaningful action against known harassers, including hotel bans.
The American Hotel and Lodging Association has previously opposed measures in Seattle that would require hotels to keep data on guests accused of harassment.
Hotel associations in several cities have also lobbied hard against the widespread use of panic buttons due to cost and practicality.
“We are working toward deployment of the devices at both managed and franchised hotels in the US and Canada through 2020 and continue to explore safety technology solutions globally,” said Marriot CEO Arne Sorenson.
Options discussed at the news conference included GPS-enabled devices or those that emit a loud noise to alert security personnel.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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