BREAKING: Workers Deliver 72-hour Strike Notice to Downtown Vancouver Hotel

Vancouver – Workers at Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Vancouver Downtown have issued 72-hour strike notice to their employer.  They join hundreds of other hotel workers across Downtown Vancouver who are demanding higher wages and better working conditions while the city’s hotels draw record-setting revenues.

Room attendants, front desk agents, cooks, dishwashers and others at the 245-room hotel near the Granville Entertainment District will be in a position to take strike action effective Monday, July 29.

“Our wages are too low considering how expensive Vancouver is today. Rent, groceries, and prices, for basically everything, has gone up. My co-workers and I are having to consider second jobs to get by.  The hotel is charging guests over $500 for a room tonight, but management dismisses us when we say we deserve more,” said Andrea Fuentes, a room attendant at the Holiday Inn & Suites for 22 years.

Nearly 2,000 hotel workers with UNITE HERE Local 40 are in contract bargaining across downtown Vancouver this summer demanding wages that keep up with the city’s astronomical cost of living. Hotel workers at Hyatt Regency Vancouver launched a one-day strike action last week and rallied around the demand that it takes $40/hour to live in Vancouver.

Vancouver’s hotel industry continues to boom with soaring room rates. Hotel room revenues reached nearly $1.4 billion last year, rebounding strongly after the pandemic, and are on track to top last year’s earnings.  While hotel room revenues hit record levels in Vancouver and province-wide, hotel staffing in accommodations has declined 30% on average since 2019.

Holiday Inn workers voted 96% in favour of strike action earlier this month. The collective agreement expired in May.  The hotel is operated by Atlific Hotels.

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

 

ON STRIKE: Downtown Vancouver Hotel Workers Walk off the Job

“It takes $40/hour to live in Metro Vancouver!”

Vancouver, BC – Room attendants, front desk agents, cooks, dishwashers and other workers at Hyatt Regency Vancouver walked off the job early this morning to launch a one-day strike. The workers are represented by UNITE HERE Local 40.

While Hyatt charges guests between $500 to $1200 per night, hotel workers are frustrated with the company’s failure to address wages that keep up with Metro Vancouver’s insanely unaffordable housing costs and inflation. The company wants to push the cost of medical benefits increasingly onto workers and, despite the decades of service that workers have invested in Hyatt, the company refuses to meaningfully improve workers’ pensions.

“I work hard and raised my boys on this job. But we’re on strike today because we cannot keep up with the cost of living in Vancouver.  I can’t cut back on rent, so that means I end up cutting back on groceries and other basic expenses.  If my rent goes up anymore, I might be homeless.  I can’t afford to move because rent is so high anywhere you go,” said Wanna Nualmeunwai, a Hyatt room attendant.

In other cities where housing costs and inflation have skyrocketed, like Los Angeles, Hyatt has agreed to higher wages and benefits for hotel workers.

“It takes $40/hour to live in Metro Vancouver.  Hyatt and other Vancouver hotels are charging astronomical room rates, cutting back services, and expecting workers to accept less while they’re being squeezed daily by the rising cost of living. Hotel workers are professionals in a key sector of our local economy who deserve to earn enough to live in Metro Vancouver,” said Zailda Chan, President of UNITE HERE Local 40.

In Vancouver, the hourly wage, or rental wage, required to afford a 2-bedroom apartment while working full-time, and not spending more than 30% of one’s income, is $43/hour, according to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. That is a far cry from what the average full-time hotel worker earns.

Nearly two thousand hotel workers are in contract bargaining in downtown Vancouver over wages that keep pace with the city’s escalating cost of living. Meanwhile, Vancouver hotel room revenues were the highest on record last year – nearly $1.4 billion – and growing.

The workers’ collective agreement expired in 2022. There have been no negotiations with company representatives since February.  Workers bargained their last contract after being on strike for one month in 2019.

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

Breaking: Downtown Vancouver Hotel Workers Launch 1-day Strike

Press Conference to be held at 11am

Hotel workers at Hyatt Regency Vancouver have launched a limited duration strike. UNITE HERE Local 40, which represents the workers, will hold a press conference this morning to address the strike action.

When: Tuesday, July 16, 2024

Time:  11am

Where: Hyatt Regency Vancouver, 655 Burrard Street, Vancouver BC

Visuals: Striking Hyatt hotel workers and allies marching on the picket line, carrying signs, chanting and making noise.

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

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Former Minister Harry Lali Crosses Picket Line Amid Heated Exchanges with Striking Workers

Vancouver, BC — Striking workers are outraged after Harry Lali, the former NDP transportation and highways minister, crossed their picket line at The Deck at Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport this weekend.

Workers from the hotel and The Deck have been on strike for over three years. Despite being clearly informed about the ongoing labour dispute in late May and explicitly urged by UNITE HERE Local 40 to relocate his family’s event, Mr. Lali and his family proceeded to hold the event at The Deck.

The situation escalated as Mr. Lali approached the picket line, leading to a heated confrontation between him and the strikers. Despite being aware of the dispute in advance and having the opportunity to hear the workers’ stories, Lali still chose to cross the line, accompanied by a group of men. His entourage appealed to the strikers, many of whom are Punjabi women, asking for permission to cross the picket line. The women stood firm, insisting that Lali, a former union member himself, knew better than to cross the line.

“Despite being informed well in advance about the ongoing labour dispute, Mr. Lali chose to cross the picket line. In May, Mr. Lali were notified months ahead about the situation, yet they decided to hold their event at a venue where workers on strike. This decision demonstrates a flagrant disregard for the workers fighting for the return of their co-workers, as well as respect and dignity on the job,” said Gulzar Grewal, Vice-President of UNITE HERE Local 40.

The BC Labour Relations Board recently issued a cease-and-desist order to the hotel and its majority owner, Sukhminder Rai, for threatening and intimidating strikers on the picket line. Rai threatened to fire one of the workers the day after the strike is settled, falsely told workers there are no kitchen jobs to return to, attempted to induce striking workers to retire, and made multiple insulting and threatening comments to one of the female strikers.

During the strike, the Labour Board has issued several cease-and-desist orders against the hotel for using impermissible replacement workers and ordered random inspections.

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

BREAKING: Why is a former NDP cabinet member planning to cross a Richmond picket line?

For Immediate Release

Vancouver BC — Striking workers are urging Harry Lali, the former NDP transportation and highways minister, to not cross their picket line at The Deck at Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport this weekend.

Mr. Lali’s family will be holding an event at The Deck despite the ongoing strike. Lali was made aware of the dispute in late May and was asked by a representative of UNITE HERE Local 40, which represents the striking workers, to relocate his family’s event to another location.  Workers from the hotel and The Deck have been on strike for over three years.

“Mr. Lali knew about the ongoing labour dispute, so why is he crossing workers’ picket line?  Many of the strikers are from the South Asian community. Has Mr. Lali, a former union member himself, completely forgotten working people?  Mr. Lali and his family should respect the workers and move their event to a venue that is not behind picket lines,” said Gulzar Grewal, Vice-President of UNITE HERE Local 40.

The BC Labour Relations Board recently slapped the hotel and its majority owner, Sukhminder Rai, with a cease and desist order for threatening and intimidating strikers on the picket line, many of whom are Punjabi women.  Rai threatened to fire one of the workers the day after the strike is settled, falsely told workers there are no kitchen jobs to return to, attempted to induce striking workers to retire, and made multiple insulting and threatening comments to one of the female strikers.

During the strike, the Labour Board has issued several cease and desist orders against the hotel for using impermissible replacement workers and ordered random inspections.

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