Press Release: YVR Airport Concession Workers Launch Strike for $25 Living Wage

Vancouver, BC — Over 200 food workers at Vancouver International Airport (YVR) walked out on strike early this morning to demand a $25 living wage.  The workers are employed by SSP America, which operates over a dozen food outlets at YVR.

Food attendants, servers, cooks, dishwashers and others set up picket lines at 4:30AM this morning to inform travelers about the one-day strike action.  The action comes after workers, represented by UNITE HERE Local 40, turned down the company’s latest offer in negotiations. They are negotiating their first collective agreement.

The Vancouver Airport Authority is attempting to limit workers’ attempt to picket inside the airport. The Union is asking the Labour Board to direct the Airport Authority to permit such activity, which was permitted in 2010 during a previous strike action.

Airport concession workers are among the lowest paid staff at YVR. Although YVR is a certified living wage employer, the average hourly wage for concession staff is $18.27, or $7.41 less than Metro Vancouver’s living wage.  Eighty percent of concession workers are women, many of them immigrants, according to a recent survey.  Thousands have petitioned YVR to expand its living wage policy to apply to concession staff.

SSP Group is one of the largest food operators at Vancouver International Airport and operates thirteen outlets: Freshii, Thai Hang, Urban Crave, Whistler Brewhouse, LIFT Bar and Grill, Church’s Chicken, Sal y Limón, Banh Shop, Nourish, Dirty Apron, Tru Burger, Rice Tales, and El Chiquito.

 

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

Press Release: YVR attempts to limit food service workers’ free speech rights on Airport Workers Day

For Immediate Release

Vancouver, BC – YVR marks the inaugural national “Airport Workers Day” by challenging workers’ free speech at the BC Labour Board.

Airport concession workers at SSP Group-operated outlets have served 72-hour strike notice and already taken limited strike action. The workers, represented by UNITE HERE Local 40, may take further strike action which could impact thirteen airport food outlets.

The Vancouver Airport Authority is attempting to limit workers’ attempt to picket inside the airport and notify travellers of which restaurants are on strike, in the event that a strike is called.  The Union is asking the Labour Board to direct the Airport Authority to permit such activity, which was permitted in 2010 during a previous labour action.

“It is hypocritical of YVR to be celebrating workers’ important contributions on the one hand, but then denying them a living wage and their ability to protest about that wage,” said Zailda Chan, President of UNITE HERE Local 40.

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

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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.