Breaking: Pan Pacific Hotel Forcing Workers to Sign Away Their Rights?

BREAKING NEWS:  

The Pan Pacific Hotel in Vancouver is giving its workers a deadline to sign away their current working conditions to become casual, on-call staff and their rights to claim severance. The hotel cites the pandemic as an excuse to force workers to sign away their labour rights.

According to a document obtained by UNITE HERE Local 40, workers at the non-union Pan Pacific have been given a deadline of today, Tuesday, July 14.  A copy of the agreement can be found here: https://www.uniteherelocal40.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Pan-Pacific-Agreement.pdf

Zailda Chan, UNITE HERE Local 40 president, blasted the Pan Pacific Hotel for forcing workers to sign away their rights and said the Province shares the blame:  “This is yet another egregious example of a hotel employer taking advantage of the pandemic to strip away workers’ rights. Is this what the Province and Tourism Minister Lisa Beare have in mind when they say they expect employers to work with their laid-off employees? The Province must take responsibility for protecting workers laid-off due to Covid. Otherwise, thousands more workers will be stripped of their rights and fired.”

Last month, Premier Horgan called on employers to do the right thing and keep their workforce intact. The Premier said that if the government needs to take steps in the legislature to protect workers, they will do so.  Tourism Minister Lisa Beare continues to remain silent when pressed on what she will do to support tourism workers.

UNITE HERE Local 40 is the hospitality workers’ union and represents members in the hotel, food service and airport industries throughout British Columbia.  Learn more at UniteHereLocal40.org.

 Contact: Michelle Travis, mtravis@unitehere.org, 778-960-9785