2000 workers in 60 hotels across BC that are part of the HIR bargaining group have a tentative agreement for a new union contract that includes wage and pension increases, new housekeeping workload language and funding to maintain all existing benefits. Stay tuned for more details…
Jan
21
2010
Coast Plaza workers ratify new contract by 94%
Gulzar Grewal, committee leader in the housekeeping department, played a key role in bargaining.
After a challenging campaign spanning most of 2009, Coast Plaza Hotel workers ratified a new union contract this week–by a vote of 94%
Highlights of the new contract include: major improvements in workload for housekeepers, some of the best economics of any hotel contract signed in BC during the recession and a significant increase in the pension contribution.
Coast Plaza housekeepers will now have a workload similar to the Hyatt, Four Seasons, Westin and Renaissance hotels, with room drops for checkouts.
Most importantly, Coast Plaza workers achieved real job security. Coast’s lease to operate the Denman Street property as a hotel has been extended through 2017.
These were tough negotiations for Local 40 members, their Union and Coast management. In the end, Coast Plaza committee members took leadership during some very difficult discussions and came up with creative solutions to settle the contract.
Labour unions, community members, elected leaders and faith groups all played important roles in supporting the Coast Plaza workers.
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL!!!
Jan
09
2010
HMS Host workers defy lockout threat, unanimously stand by contract demands
At an emergency union meeting Friday for Host union members at YVR, workers unanimously rejected the company’s intimidation tactics. In the face of an immediate lockout threat from Host, workers voted 129-0 to stand by their demands for job security and a fair contract.
“They cannot intimidate us!” said union committee leader Kam Ram. “Their threats are making people angrier. We are all signed up and ready to picket if they lock us out.”
Dec
16
2009
Vancouver hotel workers fight for recognition of the work they do
Anne, Cecilia, Mango and Ana work in the Sheraton Vancouver Airport Hotel, the Holiday Inn Downtown Vancouver and the Chateau Granville. They have been working without a union contract--along with workers in other HIR hotels across BC--since May 2009.
Hotel workers will welcome the world to Vancouver when the 2010 Olympics arrive in less than 2 months. While the hospitality industry benefits from the Olympics, workers in 6 Vancouver-area hotels are fighting for recognition of the work they do. Housekeepers, cooks, bartenders, dishwashers and servers at the Sheraton Vancouver Airport, Holiday Inn Downtown Vancouver, Empire Landmark, Blue Horizon, Plaza 500 and Chateau Granville have been working without a union contract since May 2009.
Many of the workers at these 6 hotels–and another 50 hotels in the HIR contract across BC–have given decades of service to their employers, yet they have not been able to reach an agreement with the hotels that provides fair wage increases, workload relief for housekeepers, adequate funding for workers’ health care or for pension.
Nov
25
2009
Coast Capri workers on the move in Kelowna
“To see all the support is amazing. This is real union power!” said Vivian Rondic, a 15-year Coast Capri housekeeper, speaking at the rally
Coast Capri Hotel workers, Coast workers from Vancouver, Local 40 members and supporters from 9 labour unions marched outside the Coast Capri in Kelowna November 21 to demand a fair contract for Coast workers. The Coast Capri is one of four hotels in a master contract that includes the Coast Bastion in Nanaimo, the Coast Harbourside in Victoria and Coast Inn of the North in Prince George. Workers in all four cities are fighting for decent wage increases, housekeeping workload relief, pension and benefit improvements.
The four Coast hotels have been without a contract since May. The Coast Plaza in Vancouver has been without a contract since February. Coast workers across BC are continuing their fight for respect.
Nov
20
2009
Vancouver Hyatt rally
Steady rain couldn't deter hundreds of Local 40 members from a spirited rally to support the "Hyatt 100" on November 19. Vancouver's Hyatt Regency workers and other supporters sent a loud message of solidarity to the 100 Hyatt housekeepers fired in Boston on August 31
Nov
12
2009
International Hotel Workers Day in Toronto
Hotel workers in Toronto rally outside the Hyatt Regency.
Unite Here Local 75 members in Toronto gathered in city council chambers November 10 to kick off International Hotel Workers Day. More than 500 gathered inside city hall to participate in a discussion about good jobs. Hotel workers called on the industry to invest in a skilled workforce rather using the economy as an excuse to lower the living standards of working families.
Lucine Williams, one of the “Hyatt 100″ housekeepers abruptly fired in Boston and replaced with minimum wage subcontracted workers, spoke to the Toronto gathering, “When Hyatt fired us, we didn’t have the protection of a union. In Boston, Hyatt started a race to the bottom. The workers replacing us were making about half our wages and had no benefits. This has destroyed our livelihoods and made our families and communities suffer.”
Haptom Ogbamichael, a banquet server at the the Sheraton Centre, called on employers to take the high road out of the economic downturn. “There’s the low road in which hotels try to cut hours, cut benefits, combine jobs and jeopardize our safety. Or there’s the high road where they can invest in training and good jobs…to strengthen the tourism sector.”
After meeting at city hall, Local 75 members and supporters marched to the Hyatt Regency to rally in support of Hyatt housekeepers.
Unite Here Local 40 will be holding a rally to support Hyatt housekeepers at the Hyatt Regency in Vancouver, November 19 at 5pm.
Nov
08
2009
Rally to support Hyatt housekeepers November 19 at Hyatt Regency, Vancouver
Take a stand to support housekeepers Thursday, November 19, 5pm at the Hyatt Regency, Vancouver.
On August 31, all 100 housekeepers at Hyatt’s three non-union Boston area hotels were called into meetings and fired. They were given their last paychecks, plastic garbage bags and told to clean out their lockers and leave.
• Many had worked at the hotels for more than 20 years.
• Long-time Hyatt housekeepers were immediately replaced by subcontracted employees making minimum wage.
THE ROOM QUOTA INCREASED FROM 16 ROOMS TO 30-32 ROOMS
• Some housekeepers had been directed in previous months to train the subcontractor’s employees. When workers asked whether they were going to be replaced by subcontractors, supervisors consistently denied that this would happen.
• Hyatt made $1.3 billion profit from 2004-2008, and had $1.2 billion in cash as of early August.
Nearly all hotel housekeepers are women, and the work they do is difficult and sometimes dangerous. In a survey of over 600 housekeepers by UNITE HERE, 91% of housekeepers reported that they have suffered work-related pain. Of those who reported pain in the survey, two-thirds took pain medication to get through their daily room quota (this survey did not include the Vancouver Hyatt).
For more information on the Hyatt housekeeper scandal, read CNN’s report here.