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On March 25, 2011, University of Pennsylvania Executive Vice President Craig Carnaroli released a public statement announcing the university “has no plans to make future investments in HEI Hotels and Resorts,” a company that has sparked controversy on campuses nationwide for its labor record. The statement comes just one month after officials at Brown University announced their intention to halt investment in HEI, citing allegations of workers’ rights violations. A copy of Executive Vice President Carnaroli’s full statement can be found at: http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/news/statement-penn-community-hei-hotels-resorts.
The public statement by UPenn’s Executive Vice President follows three years of campaigning by the Penn Student Labor Action Project (SLAP) and allies, including faculty and a diverse coalition of 30 campus student groups. Collectively, this coalition has carried out a series of meetings with administrators, letter drops, campus rallies, and worker delegations to the administration.
“We believe that the resounding call for accountability sent by this cross-university coalition shows HEI that students will settle for nothing less than workers having a voice in their workplace,” says Ceasar Bautista, UPenn freshman and SLAP member.
As David Williamson, a janitor at Irvine Embassy Suites Hotel, describes, “it was like a dream come true to hear about what happened at UPenn. For me and my coworkers, this takes us a step closer to winning our fight for our families and our future.”
To read the full release, click here.
