Press Release: Workers testify before House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance, Urge Federal Government to Stop Subsidizing Pacific Gateway Hotel

Vancouver, BC – Hotel workers, represented by UNITE HERE Local 40, were invited to testify before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance on Friday. They urged the Government to live up to its promise of a feminist recovery and stop spending public money at Pacific Gateway Hotel, which has operated as a federal quarantine site since last year.

The Government has not disclosed how much they are paying the hotel, which recently fired over 140 workers.  Nearly two-thirds of those fired are women.  The Government displaced some of the workers when they brought in the Red Cross to perform their work.

While the hotel’s owners are receiving public money to operate as a quarantine site, they also appear in the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) Registry. The owners did not use the federal wage subsidy program to retain its laid-off workers.  The companies named in the CEWS Registry are PHI Hotel Group and Van-Air Holdings Ltd.

Elisa Cardona, a laid-off hostess who worked at Pacific Gateway for seven years told the Finance Committee: “Hotel management used the federal takeover as an excuse to terminate me and 140 of my co-workers.  That’s over 70 per cent of our staff.  Prime Minister Trudeau promised us a feminist recovery. But women are bearing the brunt of firings at our hotel on the government’s watch. These were living wage jobs that allowed us to support our families.”

“Mr. Trudeau, stop giving millions of dollars to our owners when we are losing our jobs,” said Kiran Dhillon, a room attendant with seventeen years on the job and was terminated alongside most of her co-workers this month.

Hotel workers want action from the Government to stop using or directing public money to Pacific Gateway. UNITE HERE also urged the government to restrict companies from tapping the proposed federal hiring subsidy, the Canada Recovery Hiring Program, or CEWS, if they eliminate their staff to replace them for less.

The House Finance Committee is reviewing the proposed 2021 Budget, which includes the proposed federal hiring subsidy for businesses, an extension of CEWS, and other COVID-related relief programs.

Workers at Pacific Gateway Hotel went on strike on May 3, 2021 to protest mass firings at the hotel.

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

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

Hilton Metrotown, Lufthansa Named in Lawsuit Filed by Protester Struck by Bus / Workers Launch Website Calling On Lufthansa’s Flight Crew to Stop Crossing Picket Line at Hilton Metrotown

Vancouver, B.C. — A protester hit by a bus carrying Lufthansa flight crew across the picket line has filed a lawsuit against Lufthansa and the Hilton Metrotown. Lufthansa crew members had crossed the picket line for weeks ahead of the shocking incident despite Hilton Metrotown workers’ protests to stop. Now, the workers are launching a website — www.lufthansastreikbrecher.org — to call on Lufthansa’s flight crew unions to stop crossing their picket line. Lufthansa flight crews are using the hotel as a stopover accommodation, where they have been intercepted by locked out workers leafleting, chanting, and holding German signs and banners. 

The new website features video footage of the bus, which was carrying Lufthansa crew members, barreling into the picket line and hitting a protester. A security guard can be heard yelling, “Run them over!” The protestor is seeking damages including $10,000 for pain and suffering, over the motives of the hotel, bus driver, and security for driving him over, and costs incurred from the incident. The defendants in the lawsuit are Charter Bus Lines of BC Limited, Lufthansa, Excalibur Security Services, and Hilton Metrotown.

“We are outraged that Lufthansa flight crews were in the bus that was encouraged by hotel security to run us over. It is a long-standing tradition to honour the picket lines of other unions, and solidarity doesn’t end at the border. We’re calling on Lufthansa crews to stop staying at this hotel immediately,” said Sergio Moyer, locked out Guest Services lead at Hilton Metrotown.

Hilton Metrotown locked out workers on April 16, 2021 after firing 97 staff. The employer has refused to commit to return long-term workers back to their jobs as business recovers. The British Columbia Federation of Labour representing 500,000 union members has issued a boycott of Hilton Vancouver Metrotown. Hotel workers are entering the 6th week of the lockout.

For additional information, please contact: Stephanie Fung, 604-928-7356, [email protected], Michelle Travis, 778-960-9785, [email protected]

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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.

PRESS RELEASE: Hilton Metrotown Loses Arbitration Over Group Severance Exemption; Fired Hotel Workers Entitled to Greater Payouts

Vancouver, BC — Workers terminated from Hilton Metrotown are now entitled to receive greater severance payouts after the hotel lost a key arbitration that has implications for the broader hotel industry. Hilton Metrotown terminated 97 workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and sought an exemption to the Employment Standards Act to avoid larger severance payouts under group termination rules. The arbitrator has ruled against the hotel and found they are not exempt.

Hilton Metrotown terminated the workers, the majority of them women and racialized, in recent weeks before locking-out its remaining staff on April 16. The hotel applied for an exemption from severance provisions under section 65 of the Employment Standards Act, which allows for exemptions due to the “impossibility” of performing employment contracts due to unforeseen events and circumstances. The arbitrator rejected their appeal on the grounds that the hotel is still operating and employing people, which ultimately proves that it is not impossible for Hilton Metrotown to comply with their obligations to perform employment contracts.

The Union estimates the hotel may owe workers hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional severance pay. This decision has implications for the hospitality industry—and beyond—as other employers, like Pan Pacific Vancouver and Four Points Sheraton Vancouver Airport, have tried to use COVID-19 as an excuse to skirt their severance obligations to workers.

Zailda Chan, President of UNITE HERE Local 40: “Hilton Metrotown will not get away with using the pandemic to cheat workers out of their full severance payments. This decision sends a strong warning to other hotels: do not use COVID-19 as an excuse to avoid your severance liabilities. If you plan to terminate your long-term workers, be prepared to pay workers what they are owed.”

For additional information, please contact: Stephanie Fung, 604-928-7356, [email protected], Michelle Travis, 778-960-9785, [email protected]

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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.

UNITE HERE Local 40 Statement regarding H.I.R. misinformation

H.I.R., the employer’s representative at Pacific Gateway Hotel, has provided statements to media misinforming them about bargaining.

In the month of April the Union offered 8 potential days for bargaining (April 14, 16, 20, 21, 22,  26, 27 & 30) with the Pacific Gateway. We received no reply to schedule any Pacific Gateway negotiations in April. The same was true in March 2021, the Union offered dates and there was no response on behalf of the hotel.

We committed to H.I.R. on May 5th that we are more than willing to negotiate in good faith and are ready to meet as soon as the employer has a new proposal for the Union that finds a path forward on recall for laid off workers and takes permanent concessions off the table.

Similarly at Hilton Metrotown, the Union is prepared to meet when the employer, also represented by H.I.R., has a new proposal regarding recall and concessions during a temporary crisis.

Locked Out Hilton Metrotown Workers to Stage Demonstration at YVR Airport: “Lufthansa Airline Crew, Don’t Cross Our Picket Line!”

Vancouver, B.C. — Today, a dozen locked out Hilton Metrotown workers, represented by UNITE HERE Local 40, will leaflet Lufthansa airline crew members as they embark from the Vancouver International Airport to the hotel. Hilton Metrotown locked out workers last month after firing 97 staff. The employer has refused to commit to return long-term workers back to their jobs as business recovers. While large unions and Burnaby City Council have pledged not to patronize the hotel until it reinstates its workers, Lufthansa flight crew members continue to cross the picket line by staying at Hilton Metrotown. Hotel workers are entering the 5th week of the lockout.

WHAT: Locked out Hilton Metrotown Workers’ to Demonstrate at YVR Airport

WHERE: Vancouver International Airport, 3211 Grant McConachie Way (USA & International Arrivals baggage pickup area, Level 2) 

WHEN: Thursday, May 13, 3:00 p.m. 

VISUALS:     Hotel workers wearing masks standing 2 metres apart, holding colourful leaflets, banners, and signs.

Media availability with workers and UNITE HERE Local 40 representatives.

For additional information, please contact: Stephanie Fung, 604-928-7356, [email protected], Michelle Travis, 778-960-9785, [email protected]

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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.