Breaking: Horizon North Locks Out Minimum Wage Camp Workers and Leaves them Stranded in Fort St. John

Fort St. John, BC – Yesterday evening, nine workers delegated management at Horizon North’s Kobes Creek Lodge, asking for a fair contract. Before they could finish speaking, management informed them they were being locked out of work and had thirty minutes to gather their things. They were then bussed to Fort St. John and left in a hotel parking lot, hundreds of kilometers from their homes in Edmonton.

“It’s outrageous,” said Miranda Nedd, First Cook at Kobes Creek Lodge. “All we’re asking for is a living wage and they kick us out and leave us on the side of the road like garbage. We’re not disposable and we’re going to fight until we win. We are some of the lowest paid workers in BC’s resource camps. We deserve fair pay and respect.”

The 31 culinary, housekeeping and janitorial workers have been in bargaining since December last year and are demanding better wages, travel pay, safe workloads, and improved benefits. Workers joined UNITE HERE Local 40 last year in September over concerns about wages and working conditions.

They voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action in February of this year and served a strike-notice on Friday. “We have been patient and committed throughout the bargaining process,” Nedd said. Monday evening’s delegation was a brief work stoppage to show the workers’ unity in demanding a fair contract. Kobes Creek workers ask for support from the BC camps community while they fight to return to work.

Media Contact: Rifat Islam, 604-619-0798, [email protected]

Workers at ConocoPhilips’ camp site and Kobes Creek lodge serve 72-hour strike notice

Fort St. John, BC – Hospitality workers at Horizon North’s Kobes Creek camp and ConocoPhillips’ CPC Montney camp are ramping up pressure on their employers, having served 72-hour strike notices. Workers at Kobes Creek issued their notice on Friday and could take job action any time after the 72-hour period expires. Workers at CPC Montney will be in a strike position on Thursday, May 1, 2025.

As bargaining continues without a fair agreement, Horizon North workers are prepared to escalate job action to fight for better wages, travel pay, safer workloads, and improved benefits.

“We have been patient and committed throughout the bargaining process,” said Miranda Nedd, First Cook at Kobes Creek Lodge. “Now we are sending a clear message: we are ready to do whatever it takes to secure a fair contract that recognizes our hard work and sacrifices.”

In February of this year, camp service workers at both sites overwhelmingly voted in favour of strike action, sending a strong message to their employers that they are united and determined to secure a fair contract. The 81 workers in two camps are represented by British Columbia’s hospitality union, UNITE HERE Local 40.

Situated North of Fort St. John, in the core of British Columbia’s Montney resource region, Kobes Creek and CPC Montney Lodge provides key accommodation sites for clients such as ConocoPhilips oil and natural gas operations in the area.

UNITE HERE Local 40 represents approximately 1,000 camp hospitality workers and successfully negotiated new contracts at Red Chris Mine and Cedar Valley Lodge in December 2024. The union continues to raise standards for workers across the sector.

Media Contact: Rifat Islam, 604-619-0798, [email protected]

SFU Food Service Workers Vote 98% in Favour of Strike Action for a $27 Living Wage

Burnaby, BC – Food service workers at Simon Fraser University (SFU), employed by Compass Group Canada, have voted 98% in favour of strike action. The 215 workers are represented by BC’s hospitality union, UNITE HERE Local 40.

“We were told we’d finally get a living wage, but Compass has failed to deliver,” said Nouha Ishaq, a food service worker at SFU. “It’s getting harder and harder to make ends meet in this city. Many of us are working full-time and still struggling to afford food, rent, and transportation.”

Despite SFU’s stated commitment to implementing a living wage for third-party contractors, workers say their paycheques prove otherwise.

This week, workers delivered a petition signed by 500 SFU students demanding that Compass pay its food service staff a living wage. Students rallied alongside workers in a powerful show of solidarity on April 23, calling on SFU to hold its contractor accountable for fair and just compensation.

SFU Compass workers prepare and serve meals across the Burnaby campus and are the frontline staff at key dining locations. Many have worked through the pandemic and continue to play a vital role in the university’s operations, yet still earn wages significantly below the Metro Vancouver living wage, currently $27.05/hour.

The workers have been in bargaining since February. Their current contract is set to expire on Wednesday April 30.

UNITE HERE Local 40 represents approximately 5,500 hospitality workers including hotels, airports, camp service, and food service workers across the province, and has recently secured major gains for all workers in these areas.

Contact: Rifat Islam, [email protected], 604-619-0798

Media Advisory: Vancouver Residents to Rally at City Hall: Put Housing Before Hotels!

Rally to be held Monday, April 14 at 5:00 PM

What: On the eve of Sean Orr and Lucy Maloney being sworn in to Vancouver City Council––after winning a clear mandate running on a platform of affordable housing––Vancouver residents are joining UNITE HERE Local 40 in rallying to oppose a proposed Hotel Development Policy that would make it easier for billionaire developers to build hotels.

City staff are recommending council approve the policy on Tuesday morning. We are opposing the industry-backed plan for a simple reason: Vancouver needs affordable housing, not more hotel rooms.

Demonstrators will call on City Council to reject the proposal and focus on building affordable homes for the people who live and work in Vancouver. Mayor Ken Sim has said his party will “do better” and listen to voters—this is the chance to prove it.

Who: Sean Orr, hotel workers, housing advocates, and community allies.

When: Monday, April 14 at 5:00 PM

Where: Vancouver City Hall (North Plaza), 453 West 12th Avenue

Visuals: Colorful signs, chants, and speakers demanding housing justice.

Contact: Nate Holers, [email protected], 250-889-7682

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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