Massachusetts governor to state workers: Boycott Hyatt

Hyatt Hotel Corp., citing declining revenues, laid off the Boston-area housekeepers and replaced them with lower-paid workers from a Georgia company.

In a letter to Hyatt, Patrick criticized the layoffs, citing reports that fired workers trained their replacements after being told they were vacation fill-ins.

He urged Hyatt to work with staffers, rather than "tossing them out unceremoniously."

Hyatt, in a statement, said that like many other businesses it has been forced to make difficult staffing decisions. The company said it offered the laid-off workers severance, counseling, retraining and health coverage to year's end.