BREAKING: Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport Hotel Workers Win Longest Strike in Canadian History

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts: Michelle Travis, [email protected], 778-960-9785; Rifat Islam, [email protected], (604) 619-0798, or Meghan Cohorst, [email protected].

Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport Hotel Workers Win Longest Strike in Canadian History

Bravery leads to victory: After four years on strike, terminated workers win jobs back, plus a new union contract that sets a standard for Metro Vancouver area hotel employees.

Vancouver, BC—Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport hotel workers have won their 1,411-day strike and have ratified a new collective agreement that ends Canada’s longest-running labour dispute which sets a new standard for hotel workers in the Metro Vancouver area. The workers are members of UNITE HERE Local 40, the union for BC hospitality workers.

The new agreement between workers, represented by Local 40, and Radisson Blu hotel management provides a pathway back to work for the 143 workers terminated during the pandemic, strong job security protections, a new wage standard for Metro Vancouver area hotel workers, and new workload and tip protections. Workers will earn the highest wages in the Vancouver Airport market and surrounding metro area markets.

Photos and B-roll are available for download here.

“I feel great about our new contract. I have worked at the hotel since 1991, until I was terminated during the pandemic. I really want to go back. My co-workers have been a second family to me.  I am so proud that we stuck together. Even though it took a hell of a long time to get here, we stood up for what we believed in. It was a struggle and hard on my family financially, especially with a mortgage to pay. Without the Union, we would not have won our jobs back or gotten a strong contract,” said Jillan Louie, a server and striker.

“Being brave paid off for workers at the Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport. During the darkest days of the Covid-19 pandemic, seventy percent of the hotel’s unionized staff were terminated. Instead of giving up, the workers stood strong through rain, snow, heat, and other extremes to fight back. They made history by striking longer than any worker in Canada has before. Not only did the Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport strikers win back their jobs and a standard-setting union contract, but they also showed that if you dare to fight and never give up, you will win,” said Zailda Chan, president of UNITE HERE Local 40.

Dozens of Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport (formerly Pacific Gateway) room attendants, front desk agents, cooks, dishwashers, servers, baristas, housemen, and maintenance workers chose to be brave, sacrificing their own livelihoods by walking out on strike on May 3, 2021. They demanded that their co-workers who were terminated during the pandemic be reinstated to their jobs and fought rollbacks in wages and working conditions. At the time, the 400-room hotel was fully booked by the federal government and used as a quarantine site for international travelers.

UNITE HERE Local 40 and Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport have issued a joint statement regarding the conclusion of the dispute:

UNITE HERE Local 40 and the owners of Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport have concluded a negotiated collective agreement with the assistance of mediator Ken Saunders. The Parties are committed to working together in the future with mutual respect and have agreed to several mechanisms to address labour-management issues going forward. 

It is our intention that the new collective agreement will serve as a reset in our relationship to re-establish and strengthen a productive and positive working relationship between the employer, the union, and the unionized staff. 

Highlights of the new collective agreement include:

  • All former Pacific Gateway workers terminated during the pandemic have the right to return based on seniority; right of recall extends for 36 months.
  • Highest hotel wages in Vancouver Airport/Richmond market; returning room attendants will earn up to $28.25/hour; returning cooks will earn up to $32.50/hour.
  • No rollbacks on wages, benefits and working conditions. Contract gains include medical benefit improvements with lower eligibility requirements; new personal days; and sick days that may be carried over, and other benefits.
  • The agreement adopts industry leading standards such as daily room cleaning to ensure high sanitation standards for guests and safer workloads, as well as new gratuity and transparency protections for tipped workers.
  • Unlimited recall protections in the event of a pandemic, emergency or renovations, and other job security protections, including expedited arbitration to address disputes arising out of return-to-work issues, and training for all returning staff.

Together, we all look forward to welcoming guests back to Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport Hotel and to providing the top-notch service our guests have come to expect over the years.

The new agreement lifts the boycott of the Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport Hotel launched by the BC Federation of Labour and the Canadian Labour Congress.

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