Burnaby Mayor to Hilton Metrotown: Stop Pandemic Firings of Women

Burnaby, BC – Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley has rebuked Hilton Metrotown for its treatment of workers, particularly the women who clean hotel rooms and serve guests.  In a letter to hotel management, Mayor Hurley urged Hilton to guarantee laid-off workers be allowed to return to their jobs when business recovers.  The letter comes after Hilton terminated dozens of laid-off workers this month and indicated plans to eliminate much of its workforce by the end of March.

In a letter to the hotel, Mayor Hurley lent his support to women hotel workers who have been particularly hard hit by Hilton’s actions.

“Hilton Metrotown is treating the women who have long served Burnaby’s visitors like they’re disposable.  That is unacceptable.  Women who clean rooms and serve guests are the backbone of the hotel industry.  Hotel workers deserve the right to get their jobs back when business returns.  As we enter Women’s History Month, Hilton Metrotown is proving itself to be on the wrong side of history,” said Mayor Hurley.

“We thank Mayor Hurley for his support of hotel workers, especially the women who have made Hilton Metrotown a success.  Hilton is using the pandemic to take advantage of workers, but the women who have raised their families on these jobs will not allow them to get away with this,” said Zailda Chan, President of UNITE HERE Local 40.

Hilton workers recently launched a partial strike and are urging customers not to spend money at the hotel.

Contact: Stephanie Fung, 604-928-7356, sfung@local40union.com, or Michelle Travis, 778-960-9785, mtravis@unitehere.org

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