Media Advisory: NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh to Walk Richmond Picket Lines on Canada Day Weekend

Richmond, BC – TODAY NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh will visit Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport and Sheraton Vancouver Airport hotel picket lines in support of striking workers, represented by UNITE HERE Local 40. With Canada Day weekend kicking off the busy summer tourist season, hotels are booming again but hotel workers are falling behind in the economic recovery.

Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport (formerly Pacific Gateway): Workers have been on strike for over 2 years – the longest hotel strike in B.C. history. During the pandemic, the hotel terminated 143 long-term staff, mostly women and people of colour. While the hotel was being used as a federal quarantine facility, the owner’s mass terminations forced out 70% of hotel staff, while the remaining workers struck in May 2021. The owner, an affiliate of PHI Hotel Group, refuses to recall workers to their jobs as other area hotels have done.

Sheraton Vancouver Airport: Workers walked off the job on June 14 and are entering the third week of the strike. The hotel remained open during the pandemic with staff serving on the front lines. With Richmond hotels now booming, workers ask “Where’s our recovery?” as wages at the top convention hotel have not kept up with rising cost of living in Metro Vancouver. Last week, the BC Labour Board declared that the employer, Larco Hospitality, violated B.C.’s anti-scab law and used unlawful replacement workers.

The BC Federation of Labour (BCFED) has declared a public boycott of Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport and Sheraton Vancouver Airport. The official boycott extends to the Sheraton’s sister hotels next door – the Hilton Vancouver Airport and Marriott Vancouver Airport – which are operated by the same company.

 

WHO: MP Jagmeet Singh with striking workers, joined by Hermender Singh Kailley, Secretary-Treasurer of the BCFED and other community allies from across the lower mainland.

WHEN: TODAY, Friday, June 30

11:00 A.M. at Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport Hotel (3500 Cessna Drive, Richmond)

11:45 A.M. at Sheraton Vancouver Airport Hotel (7551 Westminster Hwy, Richmond)

VISUALS: MP Jagmeet Singh, hotel workers and community allies chanting, marching, and speaking with colourful banners, signs, and bullhorns. Striking hotel workers and UNITE HERE Local 40 representatives will be made available for interviews.

 

Media Contact: Sharan Pawa, 604-710-1693, sharan@unitehere40.com