MEDIA ADVISORY: Fourth downtown hotel – Pinnacle Harbourfront – issues strike notice; Hyatt Workers to hold picket today
Yesterday, Pinnacle Harbourfront hotel became the latest downtown hotel to join Hotel Georgia, Hyatt and Westin in issuing strike notice. Workers at these prominent Vancouver hotels, represented by UNITE HERE Local 40, have been without a collective agreement for up to 14 months and are prepared to strike in order to achieve better working conditions. Workers at the Hotel Georgia, Canada’s top-rated hotel, still face a lockout threat imposed by hotel management.
Employees of the hotels are demanding “One job should be enough!” in a booming tourism and hospitality industry which continues to make record profits year after year. Workers are fighting for sustainable jobs in the industry order to provide for their families in Metro Vancouver; this includes full-time hours, industry-setting wages, improved benefits and pension, workload protections and increased safety standards.
Workers will gather at the Hyatt Regency today at noon during their lunch hour for a picketing action, calling on their employers to bargain a fair contract. Today’s action will also launch the Union’s official boycott of the Hyatt. The workers at Hotel Georgia, Hyatt, Westin and Pinnacle hotels have yet to launch a strike action.
Picket Action and Hyatt Boycott Launch
Date: Friday, Sept 13, 2019
Time: 12:00 – 12:30 PM
Where: Hyatt Regency, 655 Burrard St, Vancouver
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Contact: Sharan Pawa, 604-725-0053, [email protected]
As of 10:00am on Monday, September 9th, UNITE HERE Local 40 hotel members issued 72-hour strike notice at the Hyatt Regency hotel; this means picket lines could go up as soon as Thursday morning. Workers at the Hotel Georgia issued their strike notice earlier this month, and could strike at any time. Hotel workers from the Westin Bayshore, Pinnacle and Four Seasons hotels are also part of the downtown hotel bargaining. Nearly 1,500 hotel workers and their families in the Metro Vancouver area are affected by current negotiations with the five hotels.
