Job Opportunities for Local 40 Members!

April 6

Job opportunities with Compass Group in the lower mainland and on the island. Cleaning jobs at health care facilities available at over $20/hour. Email updates@local40union.com to be contacted by a recruiter.

March 21

Local 40 has been working with Compass Group to allow for Local 40 members to be offered positions IMMEDIATELY in area hospitals as casual cleaning employees.

Casual Employees needed at the following locations: Vancouver Metro Area, Squamish, Comox, Campbell River, Whistler, Saanich, Victoria, Nanaimo, Sechelt, Powell River.

Pay Rates vary slightly but start at $17.10 per hour for approximately 40 hours per week and possibly Overtime.

Compass will continue to pay for your Local 40 Health Care Benefits.

You will become a member of HEU and pay Union Dues equal to 2.1% of monthly earnings plus a $5 Initiation Fee.

Compass will provide TRAINING so that you are able to perform your duties safely.

If you are interested in pursuing these job opportunities, please click here.

UNITE HERE! Canada Responds to COVID-19 Crisis

On March 30, 2020, UNITE HERE leadership from across Canada held a tele-press conference to speak on the unprecedented economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis on workers nationwide. Listen to a complete recording of the conference. For press coverage, see below:

Canadian Press – Hospitality workers ‘hit first and hit hardest’ says union seeking more support

CTV Vancouver (with video) – Hospitality workers call for financial support in face of mass layoffs

CBC – Hospitality workers’ union says 90% of members have lost their jobs in past 2 weeks

News1130 – BC hospitality workers’ union calls government wage subsidy approach a ‘bailout for businesses’

CTV Toronto – Nearly 90% of hospitality workers will lose jobs because of covid-19 pandemic, union predicts

Global News – COVID-19: Hospitality union offers help as hotels considered as makeshift hospitals

Victoria News – Canadian COVID-19 round-up: Air Canada cuts 15,000 jobs, 90% of flights

MEDIA ADVISORY FOR TELE-PRESS CONFERENCE (for Monday, March 30)

RSVP: https://forms.gle/oLF7jfgZyDVfQ5Ls7

Hospitality workers’ union UNITE HERE to host tele-press conference on impact of COVID-19 on industry’s frontline workers in Canada

WHAT: Tele-press conference with UNITE HERE Canada union leadership to discuss the unprecedented economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis on workers nationwide in industries as diverse as hotels, stadiums, airlines and food service. With mortgages, utilities and rent coming due April 1, UNITE HERE Canada calls on public officials to take immediate action to ensure that hospitality workers, like all Canadian workers, can continue to live and pay their bills, and that those still working are recognized as essential employees.

WHO:
• Ian Robb, UNITE HERE Local 47 President and UNITE HERE Canadian Director
• Zailda Chan, UNITE HERE Local 40 President, Vancouver
• Guled Warsame, UNITE HERE Local 75 President, Toronto
• Kevin Porter, UNITE HERE Local 272 President, Ottawa

WHEN: Monday, March 30 at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT

WHERE: Media must RSVP for call-in information. RSVP here: https://forms.gle/oLF7jfgZyDVfQ5Ls7

WHY: UNITE HERE represents over 18,000 hotel and hospitality workers across six locals in Canada. Hospitality workers have been on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis from day one.  Their work – cleaning rooms and public places, cooking and serving food, welcoming guests, carrying bags – puts them in daily contact with the public and in areas with very high risk of viral transmission.

Their workplaces – hotels, casinos, airports, arenas, universities, schools and remote resource camps – are among the first and worst hit by closures and layoffs. The Hotel Association of Canada estimates that 80 to 90 percent of the nation’s hotel industry will close this year. That means 200,000 to 250,000 hotel workers are losing jobs, the majority of them women, single parents, immigrants and people of color.

UNITE HERE Canada leadership will provide updates on the industry, call for immediate solutions, and take questions.

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UNITE HERE is a labor union that represents over 300,000 members working in the hotel, gaming, food service, manufacturing, textile, distribution, laundry, transportation, and airport industries in North America. UNITE HERE represents over 18,000 hotel and hospitality workers across six locals in Canada.

Message from President Zailda Chan to Local 40 Members

Dear UNITE HERE Local 40 members,

The COVID-19 global health pandemic is impacting all workers in the hospitality industry in ways that none of us would have ever imagined. With the drastic downturn of tourism, border closures and public health measures, I know a majority of UNITE HERE Local 40’s members working across British Columbia in airports, hotels, food service and camps are facing economic hardships never experienced before. In a matter of weeks, expenses like paying for our rent, mortgage, car, utilities and food have become inconceivable.

But we are in this together.  We need to stick together just as we have in the past when the employer has wanted to offer us very little for a contract or fighting unfair treatment. As a union, UNITE HERE will not sit quietly during this crisis. We plan to demand and work on all fronts to make sure hospitality workers are receiving the support they need to get through this period. We are in communication with employers and government officials to discuss how we minimize the impact on you and your families.

In the meantime, we have posted information on our website to address your immediate questions about Employment Insurance, Local 40 medical benefits and other information.

Employment Insurance

To answer any questions you may have about your eligibility for EI benefits, please click here.  If you have additional questions about EI, send Local 40 an email at updates@local40union.com or text to 604-813-2105.

Union Health Benefits

Local 40 is reaching out to employers about extending your medical coverage to protect you and your family.  Click here for answers to questions you have about health benefits.  For updates on your health benefits, please text “Local40” to 393939.

Job Opportunities for Local 40 Members

Local 40 has been working with Compass Group to allow for Local 40 members to be offered positions IMMEDIATELY in area hospitals as casual cleaning employees throughout B.C.  Click here to learn more.

Other Assistance

There has been a flurry of announcements regarding financial assistance from various levels of government to workers in need of support.  Check here for ongoing updates on our website.

For Members Who are Working

We want to make sure that members who are working during this time are safe and provided with proper training and safety gear.  No one should have to choose between income and protecting their health.  If you have any concerns about health and safety at your workplace, please contact your organizer or workplace committee contact.

Regular Communications with Local 40 Members

This week, Local 40 held a conference call with over 150 committee members representing workplaces across the province to provide updates.  We will continue to update members regularly.  If you have questions about your workplace, please contact your organizer or committee person.  And if you have family and friends working in hospitality and food service who need assistance, they are welcome to contact us as well at updates@local40union.com.

Now more than ever, we need to work together as we will go much further together than on our own. 

In solidarity,

Zailda Chan

President

 

Statement from UNITE HERE Local 40 President Zailda Chan re: COVID-19 Impact on Hospitality Workers

For Immediate Release:

Over 60,000 B.C. hospitality workers are reeling from the blunt economic trauma hitting our industry due to the spread of the new coronavirus.  In the span of one week, our members and tens of thousands other hospitality workers in hotels, restaurants and food service workers who prepare meals for airlines, airport travelers, universities and resource camps have lost work, are going on long-term layoffs and are now at risk of losing their medical coverage, which is based on hours worked.  The loss of income is abrupt and painful.  And during a life-threatening global pandemic, the average hospitality worker, many of whom are women with children to support, cannot afford to also lose their medical coverage.

During this time of uncertainty, our members are pulling together to get through one of the greatest challenges our industry has ever faced.  What is missing is a commitment from hospitality employers to ensure their employees do not lose medical benefits during this unprecedented public health crisis.  Without that promise, hotel and food service workers with reduced hours or lost pay will not be able to afford prescription medicine for themselves or their family members if they become sick or exposed to COVID-19.  While we are working with a few employers who are stepping up to make sure their employees do not face a medical care gap at this critical time, too many employers are leaving hospitality workers in the lurch.

Take, for example, the hotel industry.  In Vancouver alone, thousands of hotel workers are employed by the world’s largest hotel operators in hotels owned by some of the wealthiest developers in Canada.  Until very recently, B.C.’s hotel industry enjoyed years of record revenues for much of the last decade – in part thanks to the dedicated work of union and non-union hotel workers alike.  Today, hotel companies may soon be in line asking for government assistance and other forms of tax relief.  Will employers be expected to extend medical coverage to their employees in exchange for government assistance?

While we are relieved to see federal and provincial levels of government grapple with the vast needs facing Canadian workers right now, we anticipate additional measures will be required to stem the drastic loss of jobs and income faced by workers in hospitality and other sectors of the economy.  We also urgently need employers in the industry to collaborate with us and protect the health of hospitality workers.  They can ensure workers maintain medical coverage during this crisis and help fill the gap that government is not yet prepared to fill.

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For more information, please contact: Michelle Travis, (778) 960-9785, mtravis@unitehere.org