Despite the strike in sweltering heat, a Hyatt manager decided to turn the heat lamps on his own workers picketing for better work conditions.

The one-day strike was in the midst of some of the hottest temperatures Chicago has seen when the manager turned on the 10 heat lamps hanging above workers picketing outside of the Park Hyatt hotel in the face of stalled union contract negotiations. Workers said the 10 lamps were on for about an hour, starting at 7 a.m. Hyatt confirmed the incident and apologized, saying "We have a long history of respecting our associates' rights and caring about their well-being and this unacceptable behavior is certainly is not illustrative of that history.  We can assure you that this was an isolated incident and such a thing will not happen again."

In Chicago, Hyatt is the only hotel company not to have an approved union contract for it's workers with current negotiations that have been dragging on for 22 months. Hilton workers and Starwood hotels workers have both reached an agreement in the last six months. The Thursday strike at Park Hyatt at 800 N. Michigan Ave. in Chicago was part of a nationwide movement that saw Hyatt hotel workers in 10 different cities rally against the Chicago-based company.