Archive for category: News

BREAKING: Workers at Powell River Town Centre Hotel vote in favour of strike action

Workers at Powell River Town Centre Hotel have voted 76% in favour of strike action. Town Centre Hotel workers are struggling to keep up with the cost of living and demanding fair wages from their employer. The 35 workers have been in contract bargaining for over a year with no resolution in sight. The workers, room attendants, kitchen staff, servers, and front desk agents, are represented by UNITE HERE Local 40.

Powell River’s cost of living has skyrocketed in recent years. The current living wage is $23.33, but Town Centre Hotel workers earn far less. With hotel wages starting at $17 per hour, the hotel is facing challenges retaining staff. Town Centre hotel workers are struggling to support their families, pay rent, and save for their future.  Despite brisk business at the hotel, management is refusing to pay workers a living wage.

“Gas and groceries here in Powell River are increasing constantly. We pay extra here than anywhere else simply because of where we live. Everything we have in our stores comes in on freight or through the ferries. Because of this and inflation, most of us can barely get by. I enjoy where I work and I love my bosses and coworkers. I think I speak for everyone when I say we really need living wages where we work”, said Tyler Stieben, cook at Powell River Town Centre Hotel.

Picket lines could go up any time after workers issue 72-hour strike notice.

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

Press Release – BREAKING: Inn at Laurel Point Workers Issue 72-hour Strike Notice

Over 100 workers prepare to strike one of Victoria’s premier hotels

Victoria – Inn at Laurel Point workers, represented by UNITE HERE Local 40, issued 72-hour strike notice to management late yesterday. Workers will be in a legal strike position as of 3pm Sunday afternoon. This comes after workers voted 97% in favour of strike on Monday. Picket lines could go up at the high-end harbourfront hotel next week as the busy travel season restarts.

Workers are seeking a living wage to make hotel jobs sustainable and to keep up with the skyrocketing cost of rent and groceries in Victoria. Business at Inn at Laurel Point is bustling, yet staff are falling behind in wages. Workers are juggling heavy workloads in order to provide the 4-star service that the guests expect.

“I want to feel valued and be paid what I’m worth. I’ve committed 21 years to this hotel because I enjoy working with guests, but I don’t feel respected by management. We’ve tried working with management for nearly two years, but they don’t seem to care.  They’re spending money on renovations and branding but not investing in our staff who deliver top notch service,” said Harj Aheer, front desk agent at the Inn.

Although the Inn at Laurel Point promotes itself as a social enterprise focused on the well-being of people and the surrounding community, workers have spent nearly two years at the bargaining table and attempts at mediation. Management refuses to adequately address workers’ need for cost-of-living increases. The Inn undertook a $10 million renovation recently and has plans for future renovations and expansion. Pay for most hotel staff falls short of Victoria’s living wage of $24.29.

“I’m currently working 3 jobs to support my children and pay rent. I didn’t have to work multiple jobs 10 years ago, but today, I’m living paycheque to paycheque. A living wage would make it easier for my family to save for our future. I need this job to be sustainable for me, and my children,” said Aaron Walters, a server at Inn at Laurel Point’s Aura Restaurant

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

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UNITE HERE Local 40 is BC’s hospitality workers’ union and represents members in the hotel, food service and airport industries throughout British Columbia. Learn more at UniteHereLocal40.org.

Media Advisory: Strike looms as workers vote in favour of taking job action at Inn at Laurel Point

Strike looms as workers vote in favour of taking job action at Inn at Laurel Point

Workers at Inn at Laurel Point, one of Victoria’s premier hotels, voted 97% in favour of strike action last night. The hotel’s room attendants, kitchen staff, servers, and front desk agents, represented by UNITE HERE Local 40, could soon be hitting the streets just as Victoria’s tourist season welcomes back thousands of cruise ship visitors to the capital city. Picket lines could go up any time after workers issue 72-hour strike notice.

Despite more than two years at the bargaining table and attempts at mediation, Laurel Point management has refused to significantly raise wages so workers can afford the cost-of-living in Victoria. The hotel business is bustling again at the 4-star hotel, with room rates between $300 to $1,100 per night. Yet, workers’ pay lags behind Victoria’s living wage of $24.29.

“We voted to take strike action because Laurel Point management doesn’t value the work we do every day. We deliver 4-star service to our guests, but with the cost of living increasing in Victoria, how are we supposed to support our families on what we make?  All we want is to get a fair deal done as soon as possible so we can continue to provide our one of a kind service to our guests,” said Aaron Walters, a server at Inn at Laurel Point’s Aura Restaurant.

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

UNITE HERE Local 40 is BC’s hospitality workers’ union and represents members in the hotel, food service and airport industries throughout British Columbia. 

Press Release: 400 Sodexo Camp Workers Join UNITE HERE Local 40

Vancouver — More than 400 Sodexo hospitality workers at Cedar Valley Lodge (CVL) officially joined UNITE HERE Local 40, BC’s camp workers hospitality union, on Wednesday. UNITE HERE Local 40 and IBEW Local 993, which organized the maintenance department, applied for certification together. Cedar Valley Lodge accommodates up to 2,500 workers working on the LNG Canada project in Kitimat.

Sodexo workers at CVL have been organizing to join Local 40 since the camp first opened in March 2020. Workers will soon begin bargaining for a new collective agreement. The newly organized unit includes housekeepers, kitchen staff, janitors, lounge servers, and guest service agents.

While inflation has been skyrocketing to record levels in BC, remote camp kitchen and housekeeping workers in Kitimat are not keeping pace. Sodexo workers are looking forward to negotiating significant economic improvements that allow them to keep up with the rising cost of living.

“My co-workers and I have been organizing for this moment for a long time. We won the right to be represented by the Union of our choice and the freedom to have a voice. We want Sodexo to pay us the respect at work we deserve and win a standard to keep up with rising cost of living,” said Botchman Jomo, a Second Cook who has worked at Sodexo for two years.

UNITE HERE Local 40 represents over 900 remote camp workers in B.C. and growing.

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

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Press Release: YVR Airline Catering Workers Ratify Contract with Historic Wage Increases

For Immediate Release

Vancouver, B.C. – UNITE HERE Local 40 members who work for Gate Gourmet at Vancouver International Airport (YVR) have voted 94% “yes” to ratify a new collective agreement that will significantly raise airline catering workers’ pay.  The company agreed to provide 12% wage increases to workers in Vancouver to address skyrocketing inflation. The wage boost will also make these among the best paying airline catering jobs at YVR Airport.

Nearly 300 Gate Gourmet workers who prepare and deliver meals to Air Canada and other major airlines are covered by the new three-year agreement.  Workers have held escalating job actions, including rallies and an overtime ban, to press the global catering company over low-pay and staffing challenges. Last month, the B.C. Labour Board issued a cease-and-desist order against Gate Gourmet for using replacement workers during a strike action.

Under the new collective agreement, most workers will be earning approximately $25 an hour or more by next summer, which sets a new standard for airport catering workers at YVR.

“We’re proud of what we achieved during this round of bargaining. Gate Gourmet workers united together to win a contract that allows us to keep up with rising inflation and to make these truly living wage jobs,” said Rolando Gonzalez, a team lead in the kitchen department and bargaining committee member.

The new agreement also secures improvements in health care benefits, improved seniority rights for long-term workers, a quicker path to top wage rates and an increased shoe allowance. The new agreement is in place through July 31, 2025.

For more information, contact: Michelle Travis, [email protected], 778-960-9785

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