Media Advisory: “Will representatives of the Fijiian Honourary Consul of Canada be crossing our picket line?” Strikers to hold New Year’s Eve Protest at The Deck at Radisson Blu

Richmond, BC – Striking hotel workers at Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport hotel will be ringing in 2024 with a protest over a New Year’s Eve event planned at the hotel’s restaurant, The Deck. Strikers have urged party organizers not to cross their picket line and requested they move their event elsewhere. The party is being co-organized by Abhi Prasad, Assistant to the Fijian Honourary Consul of Canada and head of Surrey-based Metropolitan Security, with Sparq Productions.

Workers have been on strike at Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport hotel for over two years – since hotel management terminated 143 workers, or 70% of their staff, during the pandemic. This impacted nearly all the hotel’s housekeepers and The Deck staff. Most of the impacted workers are women; many are from the South Asian community and worked at the hotel complex for decades. It is currently the longest hotel strike in Canada.

 

Protest Details

When: New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2023

Where: The Deck at Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport hotel, 3500 Cessna Drive, Richmond, BC. (The Deck is behind the hotel, on the marina side.)

Time: 6PM

Visuals: Hotel workers chanting and marching with signs and noisemakers.

 

Media Contact: Sharan Pawa, sharan@unitehere40.com, 604-710-1693

Press Release: Calgary-based Bollywood choreographers urged to respect striking workers’ picket line on New Year’s Eve

Vancouver, BC — South Asian hotel workers are urging Sparq Productions, the Calgary-based Bollywood choreography and entertainment provider, not to cross their picket line this New Year’s Eve.  Sparq Productions is slated to hold a New Year’s Eve event at The Deck at Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport where workers are currently on strike.

In a letter to Sparq Productions, striking workers call on event organizers to move their event to another venue to avoid crossing a picket line at the Vancouver area hotel. The workers have been on strike at Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport hotel since hotel management terminated 143 workers, or 70% of their staff, during the pandemic. Most of the impacted workers are women; many are from the South Asian community and worked at the hotel complex for decades. It is currently the longest hotel strike in Canada.

“Why are the owners of Sparq Productions disrespecting South Asian women by doing business with The Deck at Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport?  Some of my co-workers worked at this hotel for over 40 years before being unjustly terminated; that’s one of the reasons why we made the difficult decision to strike. Why is a dance party more important than supporting those of us within the community?” said Pardeep Thandi, a striking room attendant who has worked at the hotel for over 28 years.

The pair behind Sparq Productions, Tania Lemos and Vishal Malpuria, have ignored calls to move their event to another venue.  Sparq’s owners won the “South Asian Inspiration Award” last year, yet their plan to hold an event across picket lines is hypocritical to uplifting the South Asian community.

One of the affected workers filed a human rights complaint against the hotel employer (formerly named Pacific Gateway) on behalf of 90 women over sex and racial discrimination.  The complaint alleges that hotel management’s terminations disproportionately impacted women and women of colour. The complaint was filed with the BC Human Rights Tribunal and is pending.

Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport is majority owned by PHI Hotel Group, which, until recently, managed the Westin Calgary Airport hotel.  PHI Hotel Group and its owner are being sued by affiliates of Siksika Resource Development Ltd, the economic development arm of the Siksika Nation, for alleged fraud and misappropriation of $16 million in funds.  The plaintiffs allege that the owner of PHI Hotel Group, which was responsible for overseeing Westin Calgary Airport when it was used as a federal quarantine hotel, diverted millions received from the government and funneled the money to entities related to PHI Hotel Group. The lawsuit is ongoing.

 

Media Contact: Sharan Pawa, 604-710-1693, sharan@unitehere40.com

Media Advisory – “SFU: Where is the money?” SFU workers to protest over living wage promises

Mass rally to take place Monday 2PM at SFU Burnaby Campus, Dining Commons

 

On Monday, December 11, dining workers, represented by UNITE HERE Local 40, and members of the Simon Fraser University (SFU) community will stand together to protest the university’s failure to pay dining workers a living wage.

As SFU administrators collect annual bonuses on top of their six-figure salaries, much of the dining staff earns less than $20 per hour. SFU has promised to pay a living wage to contracted dining workers, even budgeting $1.6 million for the increase. Yet, workers – many of them racialized women – have not seen a dime. Dining staff are not earning nearly enough to afford the cost of living in Metro Vancouver. The estimated living wage for a bare bones budget rose to $25.68 last month.

Many cafeteria workers only work nine months out of the year, which makes the call for living wages even more urgent. Family-supporting wages and year-round work could provide greater stability for SFU dining workers.

Contract workers are overworked and continue to be denied a living wage — more than a year after SFU said it would become a Living Wage Employer. The university treats contracted workers like they are second-class by denying them access to library services, barring their kids from on-campus daycares, and excluding their spouses and children from tuition discounts provided to faculty members.

Meanwhile, food and cleaning workers at UVic and UBC, who are university employees, are spared from holiday layoffs, while enjoying better pay and benefits than their SFU counterparts.

On Monday, students, faculty, professors, union leaders and community members will stand with contract workers to remind the SFU Administration that they cannot continue to ignore the workers who make the university work every day.

 

WHAT: Mass Protest at SFU Burnaby Campus

WHEN: Monday, December 11th at 2:00PM

WHO: SFU contracted dining staff joined by students, faculty, professors, union leaders and community members

WHERE: SFU Burnaby Campus, Dining Commons (8888 University Dr W, Burnaby)

VISUALS: Workers chanting, marching, and speaking with colourful signs and bullhorns

 

Media Contact: Kai Sharpe, 604-889-6960, kai@unitehere40.com

TODAY: Hotel Workers to Hold Mass Rally at YVR Airport in Day of Action against Air Canada

Hospitality workers and labour allies call for a boycott of the ‘scab’ airline, which sends passengers across picket lines, undermines strikers’ fight for a living wage

 

Richmond, BC – TODAY, as part of their Day of Action, striking Sheraton Vancouver Airport hotel workers with fellow hospitality workers – represented by UNITE HERE Local 40 – joined by labour and community allies will rally outside of the Air Canada gates at Vancouver International Airport (YVR). Following a morning press conference at YVR Airport, the demonstration will continue to inform airline passengers that Air Canada sends their guests across workers’ picket line at the Sheraton, Hilton, and Marriott Vancouver Airport hotels in Richmond. Hospitality workers and their allies are demanding a public boycott of Air Canada – Canada’s ‘scab’ airline – until picket lines are respected.

Larco Hospitality operates the Sheraton, Hilton, and Marriott Vancouver Airport hotels in Richmond, which form British Columbia’s largest hotel complex. The hotels regularly accommodate large flight crews landing at YVR Airport as well as airline passengers who have experienced flight delays. Sheraton Vancouver Airport workers launched their strike five months ago in their fight for living wages. Since then, five airlines have withdrawn their business from the hotel complex in solidarity with the striking workers – WestJet, Porter Airlines, UPS, American Airlines, and Japan Airlines.

The BC Labour Board has deemed the three hotels a common site and is permitting striking workers to picket the perimeter of the hotels. The extended picket line runs daily and affects guests staying at Sheraton, as well as the non-union Hilton and Marriott hotels. Despite this, Air Canada continues to send flight passengers over the picket line, putting their distressed customers in the middle of a labour dispute.

“It is unacceptable that Air Canada is sending their distressed passengers across our picket line. We have been on strike since June fighting for living wages so we can take care of ourselves and our families in Metro Vancouver. The airline is disrespecting hospitality workers as well as their own guests by this disgraceful behavior. We ask the public to boycott this scab airline,” said Felisha Perry, a Banquet Server at Sheraton Vancouver Airport.

The BC Federation of Labour has declared a public boycott of the Sheraton, Hilton, and Marriott Vancouver Airport hotels until the workers at the Sheraton Vancouver Airport hotel settle their strike. A boycott is also in effect at Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport hotel in Richmond where workers are also on strike.

 

Protest Details:

WHAT: Mass Protest against Air Canada

WHEN: Thursday, December 7th at 5:00 PM

WHO: Striking Sheraton Vancouver Airport hotel workers joined by fellow hospitality workers, labour and community allies

WHERE: Vancouver International Airport (YVR), Air Canada Gates, Level 3 Departures

VISUALS: Workers chanting, marching, and speaking with colourful banners, signs, and bullhorns

 

Media Contact: Sharan Pawa, 604-710-1693, sharan@unitehere40.com

Media Advisory: THURSDAY – Hospitality Workers and Labour Allies to Protest Air Canada at YVR Airport

Strikers to hold Press Conference & Rally in Day of Action: Air Canada crosses picket lines, undermines workers’ fight for a living wage

 

Richmond, BC – This Thursday, December 7, striking Sheraton Vancouver Airport hotel workers with fellow hospitality workers – represented by UNITE HERE Local 40 – joined by labour and community allies will hold a morning press conference outside of the Air Canada gates at Vancouver International Airport (YVR).  This will be followed by a demonstration at YVR Airport in the afternoon. For months the airline has been sending passengers across workers’ picket line at the Sheraton, Hilton, and Marriott Vancouver Airport hotels in Richmond.

The BC Federation of Labour has declared a public boycott of the Sheraton, Hilton, and Marriott Vancouver Airport hotels until workers at the Sheraton Vancouver Airport hotel settle their strike. A boycott is also in effect at Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport hotel in Richmond.

 

WHAT: Press Conference at 11AM; Demonstration at 5PM.

WHEN: Thursday, December 7th at 11:00 AM

WHO: Striking Sheraton Vancouver Airport hotel workers joined by fellow hospitality workers, labour and community allies

WHERE: Vancouver International Airport (YVR), Air Canada Gates, Level 3 Departures

VISUALS: Workers chanting, marching, and speaking with colourful banners, signs, and bullhorns

 

Media Contact: Sharan Pawa, 604-710-1693, sharan@unitehere40.com