Strikers to hold Press Conference & Rally in Day of Action: Air Canada crosses picket lines, undermines workers’ fight for a living wage
Richmond, BC – This Thursday, December 7, striking Sheraton Vancouver Airport hotel workers with fellow hospitality workers – represented by UNITE HERE Local 40 – joined by labour and community allies will hold a morning press conference outside of the Air Canada gates at Vancouver International Airport (YVR). This will be followed by a demonstration at YVR Airport in the afternoon. For months the airline has been sending passengers across workers’ picket line at the Sheraton, Hilton, and Marriott Vancouver Airport hotels in Richmond.
The BC Federation of Labour has declared a public boycott of the Sheraton, Hilton, and Marriott Vancouver Airport hotels until workers at the Sheraton Vancouver Airport hotel settle their strike. A boycott is also in effect at Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport hotel in Richmond.
WHAT: Press Conference at 11AM; Demonstration at 5PM.
WHEN: Thursday, December 7th at 11:00 AM
WHO: Striking Sheraton Vancouver Airport hotel workers joined by fellow hospitality workers, labour and community allies
WHERE: Vancouver International Airport (YVR), Air Canada Gates, Level 3 Departures
VISUALS: Workers chanting, marching, and speaking with colourful banners, signs, and bullhorns
http://www.uniteherelocal40.org/wp-content/uploads/local40logo-300x155.png00Michelle Travishttp://www.uniteherelocal40.org/wp-content/uploads/local40logo-300x155.pngMichelle Travis2023-12-04 10:19:262023-12-06 09:15:45Media Advisory: THURSDAY – Hospitality Workers and Labour Allies to Protest Air Canada at YVR Airport
Special Investigating Officer will randomly inspect hotel under consent order
Richmond, BC — The BC Labour Relations Board has issued a pair of consent orders declaring Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport breached the Labour Code again during a protracted strike by members of UNITE HERE Local 40. Under the orders, the employer admitted to over a dozen breaches of the Code. This follows an earlier consent order issued by the Board in July in which the employer admitted to using impermissible replacement workers during the strike.
Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport hotel (formerly Pacific Gateway) re-opened to the public this summer despite an ongoing labour dispute and only a skeleton crew to operate the hotel. Under the consent award granted on September 19, the employer, an affiliate of PHI Hotel Group, admitted to violating the law when it used contractors and other impermissible workers to conduct fire rounds, move and assemble furniture and setup guest rooms to prepare the hotel for customers, undertake repairs, and clean rooms, floor hallways, and The Deck following renovations.
Under the second consent award issued September 21, the Board declared hotel management breached the Labour Code when they assigned certain front desk duties to impermissible workers and in greater portion than would have been assigned before the strike; when the hotel used new managers to illegally backfill for senior managers so they could perform bargaining unit work; and continued to use third parties to perform routine maintenance tasks.
In a new development, the Board ordered a Special Investigating Officer to randomly inspect the hotel and investigate the work being performed there. The Board ordered the employer to cease and desist from using impermissible replacement workers and contractors to perform union work at the hotel, or to assign a greater proportion of struck work to managers than before the strike, and ordered the hotel to provide the Union with advance notice of any contractor operating in rooms available for rental, and to disclose which tasks are to be performed and an explanation of why it is needed.
In BC, it is illegal for employers to hire replacement workers during a strike.
Workers at the property have been on strike for over two years. They struck after the employer terminated 143 long-term workers – mostly women – during the pandemic and demanded drastic concessions from remaining workers. Strikers have picketed the hotel daily since May 3, 2021
Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport is operated by PHI Hotel Group and majority owned by Sukhminder Rai. Mr. Rai and 10 of his affiliated companies are currently under investigation for allegations of fraud and misappropriation of $16 million of public funds. His partners in three Alberta hotels have filed a lawsuit against Mr. Rai; those hotels were put into receivership last month.
Media contact: Sharan Pawa, 604-710-1693, sharan@unitehere40.com
http://www.uniteherelocal40.org/wp-content/uploads/local40logo-300x155.png00Michelle Travishttp://www.uniteherelocal40.org/wp-content/uploads/local40logo-300x155.pngMichelle Travis2023-09-27 13:04:592023-09-27 13:04:59Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport Admits to Multiple Breaches of Anti-Scab Law
Threat of strike poses risk of disruption to Coastal GasLink pipeline project
British Columbia – Today, hospitality workers at Horizon North Parsnip Lodge near Prince George delivered 72-hour strike notice to management. The 150 workers at the Lodge – represented by UNITE HERE Local 40 – voted 95% in favour of strike action on September 9. Parsnip Lodge, which houses up to 1,200 Coastal GasLink pipeline workers, is expected to close permanently this year. As alternate mass accommodations for workers in the region are not available, a strike at the property would disrupt the pipeline project.
Parsnip Lodge hospitality workers are asking the employer, Horizon North, to respect their hard work by providing, among other requests, three months of severance pay per year of service. The Lodge opened and unionized with UNITE HERE Local 40 in 2020. Horizon North operates Parsnip Lodge on behalf of Coastal GasLink.
UNITE HERE Local 40 also represents camp hospitality workers at Cedar Valley Lodge and Crossroads Lodge in Kitimat. Earlier this year, workers at the two camp sites voted in favour of new collective agreements, averting strike actions. The new contacts included substantial pay increases and improved workload protections.
Mediation between the Union and the employer begins today.
In fourth month of strike, Air Canada continues to sacrifice guest experience by sending passengers to Richmond hotels behind picket lines
Richmond, BC – TODAY striking Sheraton Vancouver Airport hotel workers – represented by UNITE HERE Local 40 – will delegate management the Air Canada office near Vancouver International Airport (YVR). The airline has been sending passengers across picket lines to the Hilton Vancouver Airport and Marriott Vancouver Airport hotels.
Larco Hospitality operates the Sheraton, Hilton, and Marriott Vancouver Airport hotels in Richmond – forming British Columbia’s largest hotel complex which regularly accommodates flight crews and airline passengers. Sheraton Vancouver Airport workers launched their strike on June 14 in their fight for living wages. Since the strike began, five airlines have withdrawn their business from the hotel complex in solidarity with the workers – WestJet, Porter Airlines, UPS, American Airlines, and Japan Airlines.
In July, the BC Labour Board deemed the three hotels a common site and is permitting striking workers to picket the perimeter of the hotels. The extended picket line runs from 7am-7pm daily and affects guests staying at the Hilton and Marriott hotels. Despite this, Air Canada continues to send passengers to the two hotels, unnecessarily involving their guests in a labour dispute.
On August 4, Sheraton Vancouver Airport hotel workers held a protest at YVR Airport calling on Air Canada to follow other airlines in boycotting the three hotels. Community supporters have since sent over 600 letters to Air Canada executives urging the company to stop booking passengers at the Sheraton, Hilton, and Marriott Vancouver Airport hotels for the duration of the strike.
WHEN: TODAY– Friday, September 15 at 10:00 AM
WHO: Striking Sheraton Vancouver Airport hotel workers
WHERE: 6001 Grant McConachie Way, Richmond
VISUALS: Hotel workers chanting, marching, and speaking with colourful signs
Risk of disruption to Coastal GasLink pipeline project
British Columbia – On Saturday, hospitality workers at Horizon North Parsnip Lodge near Prince George voted 95% in favour of strike action. The 150 workers – including room attendants, kitchen staff, janitors, and front desk agents – are represented by UNITE HERE Local 40. Parsnip Lodge, set to close permanently this year, houses up to 1,200 Coastal GasLink pipeline workers. A strike at the property would affect the pipeline project as alternate mass accommodations for workers in the region are not available.
Horizon North operates Parsnip Lodge on behalf of Coastal GasLink. Parsnip Lodge hospitality workers are asking the employer to respect their hard work by providing three months of severance pay per year of service at the worksite. The Lodge opened and unionized with UNITE HERE Local 40 in 2020.
“Camp hospitality workers across British Columbia deserve to be valued for their services. These workers provide a home away from home for thousands of workers in remote areas, and they are critical to the success of major construction projects in our province. Our members at Parsnip Lodge have spent years taking care of guests working on the Coastal GasLink pipeline. The workers want to be compensated with fair severance pay as the project nears completion. We are hopeful we can resolve this issue with the employer in bargaining and avoid a strike action at the site,” said Zailda Chan, UNITE HERE Local 40 President.
UNITE HERE Local 40 also represents camp hospitality workers at Cedar Valley Lodge and Crossroads Lodge in Kitimat. Earlier this year, workers at the two camp sites voted in favour of their new collective agreements, averting strike actions. The new contacts included substantial pay increases and improved workload protections.
The Union and the employer are currently in bargaining.
Media Advisory: THURSDAY – Hospitality Workers and Labour Allies to Protest Air Canada at YVR Airport
Strikers to hold Press Conference & Rally in Day of Action: Air Canada crosses picket lines, undermines workers’ fight for a living wage
Richmond, BC – This Thursday, December 7, striking Sheraton Vancouver Airport hotel workers with fellow hospitality workers – represented by UNITE HERE Local 40 – joined by labour and community allies will hold a morning press conference outside of the Air Canada gates at Vancouver International Airport (YVR). This will be followed by a demonstration at YVR Airport in the afternoon. For months the airline has been sending passengers across workers’ picket line at the Sheraton, Hilton, and Marriott Vancouver Airport hotels in Richmond.
The BC Federation of Labour has declared a public boycott of the Sheraton, Hilton, and Marriott Vancouver Airport hotels until workers at the Sheraton Vancouver Airport hotel settle their strike. A boycott is also in effect at Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport hotel in Richmond.
WHAT: Press Conference at 11AM; Demonstration at 5PM.
WHEN: Thursday, December 7th at 11:00 AM
WHO: Striking Sheraton Vancouver Airport hotel workers joined by fellow hospitality workers, labour and community allies
WHERE: Vancouver International Airport (YVR), Air Canada Gates, Level 3 Departures
VISUALS: Workers chanting, marching, and speaking with colourful banners, signs, and bullhorns
Media Contact: Sharan Pawa, 604-710-1693, sharan@unitehere40.com
Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport Admits to Multiple Breaches of Anti-Scab Law
Special Investigating Officer will randomly inspect hotel under consent order
Richmond, BC — The BC Labour Relations Board has issued a pair of consent orders declaring Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport breached the Labour Code again during a protracted strike by members of UNITE HERE Local 40. Under the orders, the employer admitted to over a dozen breaches of the Code. This follows an earlier consent order issued by the Board in July in which the employer admitted to using impermissible replacement workers during the strike.
Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport hotel (formerly Pacific Gateway) re-opened to the public this summer despite an ongoing labour dispute and only a skeleton crew to operate the hotel. Under the consent award granted on September 19, the employer, an affiliate of PHI Hotel Group, admitted to violating the law when it used contractors and other impermissible workers to conduct fire rounds, move and assemble furniture and setup guest rooms to prepare the hotel for customers, undertake repairs, and clean rooms, floor hallways, and The Deck following renovations.
Under the second consent award issued September 21, the Board declared hotel management breached the Labour Code when they assigned certain front desk duties to impermissible workers and in greater portion than would have been assigned before the strike; when the hotel used new managers to illegally backfill for senior managers so they could perform bargaining unit work; and continued to use third parties to perform routine maintenance tasks.
In a new development, the Board ordered a Special Investigating Officer to randomly inspect the hotel and investigate the work being performed there. The Board ordered the employer to cease and desist from using impermissible replacement workers and contractors to perform union work at the hotel, or to assign a greater proportion of struck work to managers than before the strike, and ordered the hotel to provide the Union with advance notice of any contractor operating in rooms available for rental, and to disclose which tasks are to be performed and an explanation of why it is needed.
In BC, it is illegal for employers to hire replacement workers during a strike.
Workers at the property have been on strike for over two years. They struck after the employer terminated 143 long-term workers – mostly women – during the pandemic and demanded drastic concessions from remaining workers. Strikers have picketed the hotel daily since May 3, 2021
Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport is operated by PHI Hotel Group and majority owned by Sukhminder Rai. Mr. Rai and 10 of his affiliated companies are currently under investigation for allegations of fraud and misappropriation of $16 million of public funds. His partners in three Alberta hotels have filed a lawsuit against Mr. Rai; those hotels were put into receivership last month.
Media contact: Sharan Pawa, 604-710-1693, sharan@unitehere40.com
BREAKING: Hospitality Workers at Parsnip Lodge Serve Strike Notice
Threat of strike poses risk of disruption to Coastal GasLink pipeline project
British Columbia – Today, hospitality workers at Horizon North Parsnip Lodge near Prince George delivered 72-hour strike notice to management. The 150 workers at the Lodge – represented by UNITE HERE Local 40 – voted 95% in favour of strike action on September 9. Parsnip Lodge, which houses up to 1,200 Coastal GasLink pipeline workers, is expected to close permanently this year. As alternate mass accommodations for workers in the region are not available, a strike at the property would disrupt the pipeline project.
Parsnip Lodge hospitality workers are asking the employer, Horizon North, to respect their hard work by providing, among other requests, three months of severance pay per year of service. The Lodge opened and unionized with UNITE HERE Local 40 in 2020. Horizon North operates Parsnip Lodge on behalf of Coastal GasLink.
UNITE HERE Local 40 also represents camp hospitality workers at Cedar Valley Lodge and Crossroads Lodge in Kitimat. Earlier this year, workers at the two camp sites voted in favour of new collective agreements, averting strike actions. The new contacts included substantial pay increases and improved workload protections.
Mediation between the Union and the employer begins today.
Media contact: Sharan Pawa, 604-710-1693, sharan@unitehere40.com
Media Advisory: TODAY – Hospitality Workers Delegate Air Canada Management
In fourth month of strike, Air Canada continues to sacrifice guest experience by sending passengers to Richmond hotels behind picket lines
Richmond, BC – TODAY striking Sheraton Vancouver Airport hotel workers – represented by UNITE HERE Local 40 – will delegate management the Air Canada office near Vancouver International Airport (YVR). The airline has been sending passengers across picket lines to the Hilton Vancouver Airport and Marriott Vancouver Airport hotels.
Larco Hospitality operates the Sheraton, Hilton, and Marriott Vancouver Airport hotels in Richmond – forming British Columbia’s largest hotel complex which regularly accommodates flight crews and airline passengers. Sheraton Vancouver Airport workers launched their strike on June 14 in their fight for living wages. Since the strike began, five airlines have withdrawn their business from the hotel complex in solidarity with the workers – WestJet, Porter Airlines, UPS, American Airlines, and Japan Airlines.
In July, the BC Labour Board deemed the three hotels a common site and is permitting striking workers to picket the perimeter of the hotels. The extended picket line runs from 7am-7pm daily and affects guests staying at the Hilton and Marriott hotels. Despite this, Air Canada continues to send passengers to the two hotels, unnecessarily involving their guests in a labour dispute.
On August 4, Sheraton Vancouver Airport hotel workers held a protest at YVR Airport calling on Air Canada to follow other airlines in boycotting the three hotels. Community supporters have since sent over 600 letters to Air Canada executives urging the company to stop booking passengers at the Sheraton, Hilton, and Marriott Vancouver Airport hotels for the duration of the strike.
WHEN: TODAY – Friday, September 15 at 10:00 AM
WHO: Striking Sheraton Vancouver Airport hotel workers
WHERE: 6001 Grant McConachie Way, Richmond
VISUALS: Hotel workers chanting, marching, and speaking with colourful signs
Media Contact: Sharan Pawa, 604-710-1693, sharan@unitehere40.com
BREAKING: Hospitality Workers at Parsnip Lodge Authorize Strike
Risk of disruption to Coastal GasLink pipeline project
British Columbia – On Saturday, hospitality workers at Horizon North Parsnip Lodge near Prince George voted 95% in favour of strike action. The 150 workers – including room attendants, kitchen staff, janitors, and front desk agents – are represented by UNITE HERE Local 40. Parsnip Lodge, set to close permanently this year, houses up to 1,200 Coastal GasLink pipeline workers. A strike at the property would affect the pipeline project as alternate mass accommodations for workers in the region are not available.
Horizon North operates Parsnip Lodge on behalf of Coastal GasLink. Parsnip Lodge hospitality workers are asking the employer to respect their hard work by providing three months of severance pay per year of service at the worksite. The Lodge opened and unionized with UNITE HERE Local 40 in 2020.
“Camp hospitality workers across British Columbia deserve to be valued for their services. These workers provide a home away from home for thousands of workers in remote areas, and they are critical to the success of major construction projects in our province. Our members at Parsnip Lodge have spent years taking care of guests working on the Coastal GasLink pipeline. The workers want to be compensated with fair severance pay as the project nears completion. We are hopeful we can resolve this issue with the employer in bargaining and avoid a strike action at the site,” said Zailda Chan, UNITE HERE Local 40 President.
UNITE HERE Local 40 also represents camp hospitality workers at Cedar Valley Lodge and Crossroads Lodge in Kitimat. Earlier this year, workers at the two camp sites voted in favour of their new collective agreements, averting strike actions. The new contacts included substantial pay increases and improved workload protections.
The Union and the employer are currently in bargaining.
Media contact: Sharan Pawa, 604-710-1693, sharan@unitehere40.com