Press Advisory: Statement by UNITE HERE Local 40 President re: BC tourism sector’s request for $680 million government bailout

Press Advisory

July 21, 2020

Media Contacts: Michelle Travis, 778-960-9785, [email protected];
or Stephanie Fung, 604-928-7356, [email protected]

Vancouver, BC – Statement by Zailda Chan, President of UNITE HERE Local 40:

“If BC’s tourism sector wants an extraordinary $680 million relief package from the province, then 50,000 laid-off hotel workers need a legal right to return to their jobs as hotels reopen.There is no doubt the industry and its workers have been hard-hit, but we are watching major hotel employers use the pandemic as an excuse to fire laid-off workers and undercut labour standards.Any future emergency grants or property tax relief to the sector needs to put workers first.No industry should be getting government relief without a guarantee that laid-off workers have the legal right to return to their jobs as businesses recover.”

###

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.