Pacific Gateway Hotel Workers Mark 1-Year Strike with Mass Action

Richmond, BC — Pacific Gateway hotel workers will rally Thursday to commemorate one year of being on strike. Workers have been on the picket line every day, through rain, snow, and heat, since May 3, 2021, to fight back against mass terminations and economic rollbacks. During the pandemic, Pacific Gateway terminated 143 staff, mostly women and some with up to 45 years of service, while the hotel was used as a federal quarantine site. The federal government left the hotel earlier this year after workers urged them to move. 

While a tentative agreement with Hilton Metrotown has been reached to resolve that year-long labour dispute, Pacific Gateway, owned by PHI Hotel Group, has refused to recall terminated staff to the hotel.  

WHO:        Striking Pacific Gateway hotel workers and community allies from across the lower mainland. 

WHERE: 5300 Cessna Drive, Richmond BC

WHEN: Thursday, May 12 at 5:00 P.M.

VISUALS:     Hotel workers and community allies chanting, marching, and speaking with colourful banners, signs, and bullhorns.

Striking Pacific Gateway hotel workers and UNITE HERE Local 40 representatives will be made available for interviews.

For additional information, please contact:
Stephanie Fung, 604-928-7356, sfung@unitehere40.com

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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.

Breaking: Locked out Hilton Metrotown Workers Reach Tentative Agreement

Burnaby, B.C. — Hilton Metrotown workers locked out one year ago reached a tentative agreement at 1AM this morning after two days of mediation. Workers will vote to ratify the new collective bargaining agreement tomorrow, Wednesday May 11. If approved, the labour dispute will end on Wednesday and a process for returning to work will begin on Thursday.

More details to come after ratification.

For additional information, please contact:
Stephanie Fung, 604-928-7356, sfung@unitehere40.com or Michelle Travis, 778-960-9785, mtravis@unitehere.org

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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.

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SFU Food Service Workers Reach Union Contract

160 food service workers at Simon Fraser University secure deal including up to 17% wage increases

Burnaby, B.C. — SFU food service workers, represented by UNITE HERE Local 40,  have ratified a standard-setting union contract with Compass Group by over 85% YES vote. Some food service employees will be earning close to 17% wage increases over the next three years. With this new agreement, workers will receive the biggest raises in the history of SFU, ultimately getting them to a living wage.

The union bargaining committee achieved their collective agreement after workers held a button-up action and rallied at SFU just a few weeks prior. As inflation across the lower mainland has dramatically risen over the years, the new contract provides a living wage and improved working conditions for over 150 workers. 

Along with historic wage increases, workers will see improvements to their medical benefits, a process for discussing access to SFU benefits — as accessed by direct SFU employees — and stronger recall protections in case of natural disasters or emergency situations such as COVID-19 so no one loses seniority due to stoppage of business.

“I’m proud that SFU food service workers came together and fought hard to win what we deserve,” said Nouha Ishaq, a food service worker at SFU for 17 years. “It feels good to know people will have more money in their pockets. We don’t know later on what the future will bring, but for now we did our best together as a union. We were persistent in this fight and showed we’re not giving up to create a better future for food service workers. I look forward to going back to work and serving the university community!”

“Thanks to Compass Group for being able to bargain with us effectively through the pandemic,” said Zailda Chan, president of UNITE HERE Local 40. “Food service workers are valued members of the SFU community and we’re glad that Compass Group recognized this in the end.”

Media Contact: Stephanie Fung, 604-928-7356, sfung@unitehere40.com

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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.

Pacific Gateway Hotel Workers Urge Richmond City Council to Support BC Unequal Women and Hotel Boycott

Richmond, BC — Yesterday, a delegation of striking Pacific Gateway hotel workers appeared and spoke before Richmond City Council on Monday, April 11, to urge City Councillors not to spend any public money at the hotel until the current labour dispute is resolved. Members of the Richmond Poverty Reduction Coalition also attended in solidarity. Pacific Gateway hotel workers are members of UNITE HERE Local 40, B.C.’s hospitality workers’ union.

The COVID-19 pandemic devastated the hospitality industry throughout the province and disproportionately affected women and people of colour. In Richmond, the federal government took over Pacific Gateway as a quarantine site during the pandemic and pulled out in January 2022 citing concerns over the hotel’s treatment of workers. Workers went on strike in May 2021 after the hotel terminated 143 long-term staff during the height of Covid. The B.C. Federation of Labour has issued a boycott of the hotel.

UNITE HERE Local 40 launched the B.C. Unequal Women campaign to call attention to how women are bearing the brunt of pandemic terminations in the hospitality industry. At Pacific Gateway, of the 143 workers terminated, 90 of them were women. In May 2021, a terminated housekeeper filed a human rights complaint against the hotel on behalf of herself and 89 other fired women for wrongful firings on the basis of sex and racial discrimation.

“When Pacific Gateway Hotel workers went on strike in May 2021, the Richmond Poverty Reduction Coalition wrote to the Mayor and Council requesting that the City NOT patronize the hotel. We were advised by UNITE HERE Local 40 that 38% of Pacific Gateway workers live in Richmond. Agreeing to not use the hotel until the labour dispute is over would show that City Council truly cares about their residents who want to earn a living here,” said De Whalen, longtime Richmond resident and president of the Richmond Poverty Reduction Coalition.

“I urge Richmond City Council to do the right thing and support Pacific Gateway workers, many of whom are women, in the COVID-19 recovery. At a time when there is a labour shortage in B.C., our hotel should be bringing terminated workers back to their jobs, not replacing us with potentially cheaper hires,” said Treva Martell, a terminated server from Pacific Gateway hotel and Richmond resident.

CONTACT: Stephanie Fung, sfung@unitehere40.com, 604-928-7356; or Michelle Travis, mtravis@unitehere.org, 778-960-9785

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UNITE HERE Local 40 is a labour union representing workers in the hotel, food service and airport industries throughout British Columbia. Learn more at UniteHereLocal40.org.