Harrison Hot Springs Resort workers vote in favour of strike action

For Immediate Release

Vancouver, BC — Workers at Harrison Hot Springs Resort have voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action, with over 96% voting yes.  The workers are members of UNITE HERE Local 40.

With inflation heating up again, resort staff, including hotel room attendants, front desk agents, servers, cooks, dishwashers, spa staff, and others, are calling for fair wages, fair scheduling, medical benefit improvements, banquet tip transparency, and a decent pension. Guests can pay over $300 a night to stay, yet workers have not had a raise in a year.

The workers’ collective agreement expired in May.  The Union filed a bad faith bargaining charge after the company failed to respond to requests to bargain in February.  The Union and the company have held several bargaining dates and will resume negotiations this week.

During the pandemic, workers put their health and safety on the line to keep the hotel running. They agreed to modest wage increases and limited concessions on overtime and vacations to meet the challenges of the public health crisis. However, the resort experienced a rebound in leisure travel much sooner than the province’s urban hotel markets and continues to have a bustling business.

Harrison Hot Springs Resort is owned by Aldesta Hotel Group, a subsidiary of Salience Global Holdings.  Last year, Aldesta acquired the Fairmont Hot Springs Resort for $40 million.

 

Contact: Michelle Travis, [email protected], 778-960-9785

 

Press Release: Richmond hotel strikers injured, narrowly avoiding shuttle van crash

Richmond, BC – Striking Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport Hotel workers suffered injuries when they narrowly escaped being run over by a shuttle driver who suddenly drove through the bushes behind the hotel and crashed into two other vehicles yesterday afternoon.

An Ace Charters Vancouver shuttle van, which was parked in the employee parking lot of the Radisson Blu hotel at the time, lurched suddenly through the bushes behind the hotel, crashed into a second vehicle, and careened forward across Lysander Lane until it hit a third car parked at a nearby charging station.

Three female hotel room attendants who are on strike at Radisson Blu were walking along the sidewalk of Lysander Lane when they heard a noise and saw the vehicles coming toward them.  They ran to avoid being struck but suffered injuries.  One of the strikers fell to the ground to avoid the oncoming vehicles. A second woman was injured when one of the vehicles grazed her ankle.  The two women went to hospital for examination; the third woman was unharmed. The RCMP and an ambulance were called to the scene.

“We heard a loud noise and saw a car coming from the bushes. We ran as fast as we could.  A big black car came toward me, and the tire hit my ankle. It was so scary, we didn’t know what to do,” said Vent Reddy, a striking room attendant who has worked at the hotel for over forty years.

“What happened here was reckless and put workers’ lives at risk.  Why is Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport allowing Ace Charters to park their vehicles in the hotel employees’ parking area during a strike?  Ace Charters could have killed someone.  They should no longer be allowed to operate out of the Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport Hotel,” said Zailda Chan, President of UNITE HERE Local 40.

Last month, the BC Labour Board issued a cease and desist order against the Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport’s majority owner for threatening and intimidating strikers on the picket line. The hotel has repeatedly breached the labour code by using impermissible replacement workers. The workers have been on strike for three years.

 

Contact: Michelle Travis, [email protected], 778-960-9875

Press Release: Low-wage women of colour lose out under YVR Airport’s living wage policy, according to new report 

Hundreds of airport concession workers not covered by airport living wage policy

Vancouver – YVR Airport’s living wage policy should be expanded to cover low-wage airport concession workers who serve travelers inside the terminals of Canada’s top airport, according to a new report.

Airport concession workers are among the lowest paid workers at YVR Airport.  Eighty percent (80%) of them are women of colour, many of them immigrants, who earn far below Metro Vancouver’s living wage of $25.68, according to a new report, Who Deserves a Living Wage at YVR Airport, by UNITE HERE Local 40.  The airport is a certified living wage employer, yet the average hourly wage for concession staff is $18.27, or $7.41 less than the airport living wage.

Roughly 2,500 out of the nearly 30,000 workers at the airport and on Sea Island are covered by YVR Airport’s living wage policy.  The existing policy covers over 900 Vancouver Airport Authority employees, the majority of whom are male and predominantly white. The policy also covers certain contractors, including those providing janitorial and security services inside the terminals and traffic management services.  The policy does not extend to airport concession staff, such as cashiers, attendants, servers, cooks, dishwashers, and others who work behind the food and retail counters a few floors down from Vancouver Airport Authority offices in the same building.

As YVR Airport’s revenues have largely recovered from the pandemic, the pay gap between Vancouver Airport Authority’s top executives and concession workers has widened.  Airport Authority CEO Tamara Vrooman earned a total compensation package of $2.2 million, up from $1.9 million the previous year, while the average full-time concession worker earned $36,000 in annual pay. The pay ratio between the Airport Authority’s CEO and an average full-time airport concession worker is 59:1, an income gap that grew last year.

Nearly 89% of concession workers surveyed reported that they are struggling to keep up with the rising cost of living. Over half, or 53%, reported having to cut back on family support for their immediate or extended family. Others reported cutting back on fresh food and medical care. Thirty percent (30%) of workers reported working more than one job.

Workers also cited having to cut back on transit costs. Vancouver Airport Authority terminated its transit reimbursement policy earlier this year which subsidized transit for those who work outside regular transit hours.

Airport concession workers have been actively advocating for a $25 living wage recently. This month, workers from YVR dining outlets operated by SSP Group issued 72-hour strike notice over concerns that wages need to be significantly raised to afford the cost of living.

A worker from an A&W airport outlet operated by MGM Food Services was terminated after she signed a petition calling for a $25 airport living wage and encouraged co-workers to sign. During a meeting, an MGM manager asked employees if they signed the petition and discovered that the worker had done so. Two weeks later, management fired the worker telling her she was “not a good fit for the company” despite having worked there for nearly for two years with no issues. The petition was signed by nearly 2,000 people and sent to the Airport Authority CEO.

“Vancouver Airport Authority should extend its living wage policy to cover the lowest paid workers at YVR Airport, most of them immigrant women, who provide an essential role at our airport.  While airport workers are struggling to stay afloat in an incredibly unaffordable city, YVR’s airport executives are doing better than ever.  No worker should fear losing their job because they demand a living wage. The Airport Authority has the power to do more to ensure workers can work with dignity and fair pay at YVR Airport,” said Zailda Chan, President of UNITE HERE Local 40.

To address economic inequality at YVR Airport, the report recommends that Vancouver Airport Authority:

  • Implement a $25 living wage policy for airport concession staff who earn less than a living wage.
  • Terminate contracts with operators who discriminate or violate the fundamental rights of workers.
  • Bring back the YVR transit reimbursement program for airport workers arriving or departing work outside regular transit hours.

 

Media Contact: Michelle Travis, [email protected], 778-960-9785.

Press Release: Labour Board rules Richmond hotel owner threatened, intimidated strikers on picket line

Vancouver, BC — Strikers at Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport have won a BC Labour Board decision that found the hotel employer repeatedly committed unfair labour practices during their strike. This decision comes as the workers recently marked their third year on the picket line.

In a decision written by Vice Chair Gurleen Sahota, the Board declared the employer and, in particular, Sukhminder Rai, the majority owner of Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport Hotel, breached the labour code by intimidating and threatening strikers on the picket line, many of whom are women and part of the Punjabi community. Mr. Rai also offered to pay off an older striker in an attempt to induce her to retire and abandon the strike.  Mr. Rai is the president of Surrey-based PHI Hotel Group, which operates Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport.

The decision cited several examples of the employer engaging in intimidation, threats, and an effort to undermine the bargaining unit, including:

  • On the picket line, Mr. Rai threatened a striking maintenance worker’s employment by telling him: “the day after I settle, you know, I can fire you.” Vice Chair Sahota found the threat had the impact of “exerting pressure” on the striker.
  • Rai told the strikers that he was getting rid of the hotel kitchen and there would not be jobs for striking kitchen staff. However, under cross-examination, Mr. Rai admitted to the Board that he planned to continue operating a kitchen at the hotel. Vice Chair Sahota noted Mr. Rai’s comments contradicted the employer’s bargaining proposal made months later which included kitchen staff. The Vice Chair found that Mr. Rai’s actions amounted to intimidation: “In effect, the manner and frequency in which the comments were made leads me to find Rai repeatedly implied that the employees picketing and ongoing support of the Union was futile because the employees would not have their jobs to return to.”
  • Rai repeatedly taunted one of the strikers, a Punjabi room attendant who had worked at the hotel for nearly 30 years, had spoken to press about the strike and is a member of the union bargaining committee.
  • The Vice Chair found that Mr. Rai also breached the code when he told an older striker she should stay home and take care of grandkids and offered to pay her to do so. Rai repeated this sentiment to strikers again at another time. His comments were made prior to the employer’s proposal which made no mention of retirement payments to strikers. The Vice Chair found this to be an unfair labour practice by encouraging a striker to no longer strike or be a member of the union and undermined the Union’s exclusive bargaining authority.

“This decision is a legal and moral victory.  The strikers have courageously refused to let the owner get away with attempts to threaten, intimidate, and undermine their union. It is not easy to stand up and fight for justice, but Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport strikers have resolved to fight for the respect they deserve.  This should send a strong message to any employer who thinks they are above the law,” said Zailda Chan, President of UNITE HERE Local 40.

The Labour Board has ordered the owner to cease and desist from further breaches of the Code. This ruling follows three previous consent awards in which the employer admitted to using impermissible replacement workers during the strike. Workers struck in May 2021 in protest over mass pandemic firings of 143 workers and the threat of economic rollbacks as the employer raked in millions when the hotel was used as a federal quarantine site.

In an unrelated case, Mr. Rai is currently being sued by a business partner, an affiliate of the Siksika Nation, for alleged fraud and misappropriation of $16 million in funds in connection to its management of Westin Calgary Airport when that hotel was used as a federal quarantine hotel.

Media Contacts: Sharan Pawa, [email protected], 604-710-1693; or Michelle Travis, [email protected], 778-960-9785

Press Release: Fired YVR Worker Files Human Rights Complaint Against Airport Operator

Worker Reports Discrimination After Standing Up for a Living Wage

 

Richmond, BC – An airport food worker has filed a human rights complaint against Vancouver Airport (YVR) operator, MGM Food Services, for discrimination. MGM terminated the worker days after she signed a public petition demanding a $25 living wage for all workers at YVR Airport and encouraged co-workers to sign.

MGM Food Services operates two A&W locations at YVR Airport. The worker, Ann John, was employed at the A&W outlet located in YVR’s international terminal for over a year and a half, having only ever receiving positive feedback for her work. Ms. John is a new Canadian working towards her permanent resident status. On April 4, she signed the petition calling for a $25 living wage at YVR. Ms. John was one of the hundreds who signed the petition to YVR CEO Tamara Vrooman asking for a living wage for all airport workers.

According to the complaint, MGM Food Services discouraged their staff from signing the petition because, among other things, they claimed it was “misleading people with false promises.” A few days after Ms. John had signed the petition, an all-employee meeting was held where management asked who had signed. At this meeting they learned Ms. John had signed and had encouraged others to sign. Two weeks later, after arriving for her shift, Ms. John was denied entry and fired. She was told she was “not a good fit for the company.”

“I don’t earn a living wage, and I struggle to make ends meet. I know that my co-workers struggle too. I believed in the cause, and I signed the petition, because better wages could really help myself and the people around me. MGM said I wasn’t a good fit, but in my opinion, the real reason they fired me was that I signed the petition,” said Ann John.

YVR Airport, which recently reclaimed its spot as North America’s number one airport, will be holding its Annual General Meeting tomorrow. The Vancouver Airport Authority is a certified living wage employer – yet over a thousand food service and retail workers at the airport are not covered by this policy.

“We are very concerned about how this non-union employee was treated by an airport operator, and YVR’s lack of interest in protecting workers’ rights”, stated Zailda Chan, President of UNITE HERE Local 40. “Workers who are included in YVR’s living wage policy are mostly white and mostly men. Workers excluded from the policy are mostly women of colour…and when they stand up for change, they lose their job? Is this really the top airport in North America?”

Ms. John is seeking reinstatement and compensation for injury to dignity, feelings, and self-respect. UNITE HERE Local 40 demands the Airport Authority ensure Ann is reinstated to her position and takes steps to cut ties with MGM Food Services for its actions.

 

Media Contact: Sharan Pawa, 604-710-1693, [email protected]