MEDIA ADVISORY: Rosewood Hotel Georgia strike enters eighth week as holiday season approaches, Strikers hold mass-action today before negotiations resume Friday

What: Hotel workers from Rosewood Hotel Georgia to hold demonstration to mark eighth week on strike.

When: Thursday, November 14, 2019, 5pm

Where: Rosewood Hotel Georgia, 801 West Georgia Street, Vancouver

Who: UNITE HERE Local 40 hotel members on strike at the Rosewood Hotel Georgia, joined in solidarity by hundreds of former striking hotel workers and the Vancouver community.

Note: Frontline UNITE HERE Local 40 hotel workers on strike will be available for interview in person at the action or in advance by phone. To connect with strikers in advance or at the action, contact Sharan.

WHY: As the Hotel Georgia strike enters its eighth week – the longest of its kind in Vancouver’s history – negotiations with hotel management will resume this Friday on the heels of a cease and desist order by the BC Labour Relations Board (LRB) in which Rosewood management was found to have committed multiple breaches of provincial labour law. The LRB issued a cease and desist order against the hotel on October 28.

Strikers recently travelled to Silicon Valley and Hong Kong to lead actions at other Rosewood Hotel locations. International unions and trade federations from around the globe, from California to Myanmar, have recently led delegations in support of the strikers.

B.C.’s performers union, UBCP/ACTRA, and US-based entertainment union SAG-AFTRA have issued notices to performers and production managers to respect the picket line at Rosewood Hotel Georgia and to immediately remove business from the hotel until a settlement is reached.

In September, over 1,200 Vancouver hotel workers went on strike at four high-end hotels in Canada’s most profitable hotel industry. Last month, three of the four hotels agreed to ground-breaking new contracts. Two hundred Rosewood Hotel Georgia workers remain on strike for a contract which matches the five-star service they provide to clientele of this iconic Vancouver hotel. In addition to the demand for fair wages and stable jobs, the hotel has been under scrutiny over its handling of sexual harassment concerns in recent months.

Contact: Sharan Pawa, 604-725-0053, SPawa@Local40Union.com