Possible airport disruptions during spring break and easter weekend travel rush
Richmond, BC – Food service workers at YVR Vancouver International Airport voted 85% in favour of strike action yesterday. The workers – represented by UNITE HERE Local 40 – are employed by one of YVR’s largest food service operators, SSP Canada Food Services. After months of bargaining, over 200 low-paid SSP workers could walk off the job in their fight to earn Metro Vancouver’s living wage.
The workers serve travelers at dozens of food outlets located in the airport’s domestic and international terminals. Job actions would disrupt daily airport operations as the spring break and Easter weekend rush approaches, with over 1.1 million passengers projected to travel through YVR Airport in the next few weeks.
Recent Union data shows the average food service wage at the world-class airport to be only $18.27 – well below Metro Vancouver’s living wage of $25.68. Meanwhile, YVR Airport generated $492 million in 2022 and is on track to exceed that figure in 2023. In a survey of YVR food service workers conducted last month by the Union, 89% are struggling to keep up with bills or housing costs. 92% of these workers have had to cut back on other expenses to get by each month including nearly 40% stating they are buying less fresh food, and 52% who are not able to support family members as they have previously.
Of the workers at YVR Airport who do not earn a living wage, 78% of those surveyed are women, and most are immigrants. A large majority of SSP food service workers are racialized women. SSP food service worker demographics are in stark contrast to YVR’s own staff, who earn a living wage and are majority male, 65% white.
In addition to standing united for a living wage, the workers are fighting to have their transit reimbursement program reinstated by SSP. This program covers Uber and taxi rides for all SSP food service staff who work outside of SkyTrain hours. Currently, the workers are expected to spend hundreds of dollars on ride costs each month in order to work their scheduled shifts at the airport.
With this strike vote, food service workers send a strong message: end wage discrimination at YVR. Picket lines could go up after workers issue 72-hour strike notice.
Low-paid food service workers, a majority racialized women, forced to spend hundreds out of pocket on transit costs
Richmond, BC – YVR International Airport suddenly on February 1st ended their transit reimbursement program which covers Uber and taxi rides for all airport staff who work outside of SkyTrain hours. This forces already low-paid food service workers to spend hundreds of dollars on ride costs in order to work their scheduled shifts at the airport, which can start or end between 1AM to 5AM.
UNITE HERE Local 40 – which represents YVR food service workers – has filed a Labour Board complaint against one of YVR’s largest food service operators, SSP Canada Food Services, for not reinstating its own long-standing practice of reimbursing staff for Uber and taxi rides outside of SkyTrain hours, which pre-dated the YVR program. YVR Airport began its own ride reimbursement program during the pandemic when food service operational hours were extended, at which point SSP discontinued its own program. SSP has not agreed to reinstate its own practice as of February 1st.
“I start my shift at the airport at 5:30AM, and I live in East Vancouver,” said Alexis Garciano, a worker at Sal Y Limon at YVR. “To get to there on time, I now have to pay for my Ubers early in the morning which is costing me an extra $100/week. I can’t change my work schedule either, because I have a son who I need to take care of in the afternoons. I’m an international student who also has to pay for my rent and tuition fees. For only getting paid $19.50/hour for my work at the airport, this added transit cost really hurts me and my family.”
YVR Airport generated $492 million in 2022 and is on track to exceed that figure in 2023. Meanwhile, hundreds of food service workers at YVR Airport earn well below Metro Vancouver’s living wage of $25.68; recent Union data shows the average food service wage to be only $18.27. A large majority of these workers are racialized women. In addition to their low wages at the world-class airport, some of these workers now have to pay up to $150 per week just to get to work.
“I’m a cook and I only accepted 4:30AM starting shifts because I was told I would be reimbursed for ride costs to the airport,” said Jennie Padilla, from Sal Y Limon at YVR. “I already have to pay for my own Compass transit card, and at times when public transit is not an option for workers, we should be reimbursed for rides needed to get to our jobs. YVR set our new earlier opening time, but now they are making the workers suffer by making us pay to get to work. Personally, it’s costing me around $25 every time I need to take an Uber to my morning shift, because no other options are available. This isn’t right, and I’m going to keep standing up for myself and for my coworkers until YVR shows us respect.”
Richmond, BC – Striking hotel workers at Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport hotel will be ringing in 2024 with a protest over a New Year’s Eve event planned at the hotel’s restaurant, The Deck. Strikers have urged party organizers not to cross their picket line and requested they move their event elsewhere. The party is being co-organized by Abhi Prasad, Assistant to the Fijian Honourary Consul of Canada and head of Surrey-based Metropolitan Security, with Sparq Productions.
Workers have been on strike at Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport hotel for over two years – since hotel management terminated 143 workers, or 70% of their staff, during the pandemic. This impacted nearly all the hotel’s housekeepers and The Deck staff. Most of the impacted workers are women; many are from the South Asian community and worked at the hotel complex for decades. It is currently the longest hotel strike in Canada.
Protest Details
When: New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2023
Where: The Deck at Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport hotel, 3500 Cessna Drive, Richmond, BC. (The Deck is behind the hotel, on the marina side.)
Time: 6PM
Visuals: Hotel workers chanting and marching with signs and noisemakers.
http://www.uniteherelocal40.org/wp-content/uploads/local40logo-300x155.png00Michelle Travishttp://www.uniteherelocal40.org/wp-content/uploads/local40logo-300x155.pngMichelle Travis2023-12-29 11:13:562023-12-29 11:13:56Media Advisory: “Will representatives of the Fijiian Honourary Consul of Canada be crossing our picket line?” Strikers to hold New Year’s Eve Protest at The Deck at Radisson Blu
Vancouver, BC — South Asian hotel workers are urging Sparq Productions, the Calgary-based Bollywood choreography and entertainment provider, not to cross their picket line this New Year’s Eve. Sparq Productions is slated to hold a New Year’s Eve event at The Deck at Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport where workers are currently on strike.
In a letter to Sparq Productions, striking workers call on event organizers to move their event to another venue to avoid crossing a picket line at the Vancouver area hotel. The workers have been on strike at Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport hotel since hotel management terminated 143 workers, or 70% of their staff, during the pandemic. Most of the impacted workers are women; many are from the South Asian community and worked at the hotel complex for decades. It is currently the longest hotel strike in Canada.
“Why are the owners of Sparq Productions disrespecting South Asian women by doing business with The Deck at Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport? Some of my co-workers worked at this hotel for over 40 years before being unjustly terminated; that’s one of the reasons why we made the difficult decision to strike. Why is a dance party more important than supporting those of us within the community?” said Pardeep Thandi, a striking room attendant who has worked at the hotel for over 28 years.
The pair behind Sparq Productions, Tania Lemos and Vishal Malpuria, have ignored calls to move their event to another venue. Sparq’s owners won the “South Asian Inspiration Award” last year, yet their plan to hold an event across picket lines is hypocritical to uplifting the South Asian community.
One of the affected workers filed a human rights complaint against the hotel employer (formerly named Pacific Gateway) on behalf of 90 women over sex and racial discrimination. The complaint alleges that hotel management’s terminations disproportionately impacted women and women of colour. The complaint was filed with the BC Human Rights Tribunal and is pending.
Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport is majority owned by PHI Hotel Group, which, until recently, managed the Westin Calgary Airport hotel. PHI Hotel Group and its owner are being sued by affiliates of Siksika Resource Development Ltd, the economic development arm of the Siksika Nation, for alleged fraud and misappropriation of $16 million in funds. The plaintiffs allege that the owner of PHI Hotel Group, which was responsible for overseeing Westin Calgary Airport when it was used as a federal quarantine hotel, diverted millions received from the government and funneled the money to entities related to PHI Hotel Group. The lawsuit is ongoing.
http://www.uniteherelocal40.org/wp-content/uploads/local40logo-300x155.png00Michelle Travishttp://www.uniteherelocal40.org/wp-content/uploads/local40logo-300x155.pngMichelle Travis2023-12-18 09:39:392023-12-18 09:39:39Press Release: Calgary-based Bollywood choreographers urged to respect striking workers’ picket line on New Year’s Eve
Mass rally to take place Monday 2PM at SFU Burnaby Campus, Dining Commons
On Monday, December 11, dining workers, represented by UNITE HERE Local 40, and members of the Simon Fraser University (SFU) community will stand together to protest the university’s failure to pay dining workers a living wage.
As SFU administrators collect annual bonuses on top of their six-figure salaries, much of the dining staff earns less than $20 per hour. SFU has promised to pay a living wage to contracted dining workers, even budgeting $1.6 million for the increase. Yet, workers – many of them racialized women – have not seen a dime. Dining staff are not earning nearly enough to afford the cost of living in Metro Vancouver. The estimated living wage for a bare bones budget rose to $25.68 last month.
Many cafeteria workers only work nine months out of the year, which makes the call for living wages even more urgent. Family-supporting wages and year-round work could provide greater stability for SFU dining workers.
Contract workers are overworked and continue to be denied a living wage — more than a year after SFU said it would become a Living Wage Employer. The university treats contracted workers like they are second-class by denying them access to library services, barring their kids from on-campus daycares, and excluding their spouses and children from tuition discounts provided to faculty members.
Meanwhile, food and cleaning workers at UVic and UBC, who are university employees, are spared from holiday layoffs, while enjoying better pay and benefits than their SFU counterparts.
On Monday, students, faculty, professors, union leaders and community members will stand with contract workers to remind the SFU Administration that they cannot continue to ignore the workers who make the university work every day.
WHAT: Mass Protest at SFU Burnaby Campus
WHEN: Monday, December 11th at 2:00PM
WHO: SFU contracted dining staff joined by students, faculty, professors, union leaders and community members
WHERE: SFU Burnaby Campus, Dining Commons (8888 University Dr W, Burnaby)
VISUALS: Workers chanting, marching, and speaking with colourful signs and bullhorns
http://www.uniteherelocal40.org/wp-content/uploads/local40logo-300x155.png00Michelle Travishttp://www.uniteherelocal40.org/wp-content/uploads/local40logo-300x155.pngMichelle Travis2023-12-08 11:28:412023-12-08 11:30:06Media Advisory – “SFU: Where is the money?” SFU workers to protest over living wage promises
Press Release: BREAKING – YVR Airport Food Service Workers Vote Overwhelmingly in Favour of Strike Action
Possible airport disruptions during spring break and easter weekend travel rush
Richmond, BC – Food service workers at YVR Vancouver International Airport voted 85% in favour of strike action yesterday. The workers – represented by UNITE HERE Local 40 – are employed by one of YVR’s largest food service operators, SSP Canada Food Services. After months of bargaining, over 200 low-paid SSP workers could walk off the job in their fight to earn Metro Vancouver’s living wage.
The workers serve travelers at dozens of food outlets located in the airport’s domestic and international terminals. Job actions would disrupt daily airport operations as the spring break and Easter weekend rush approaches, with over 1.1 million passengers projected to travel through YVR Airport in the next few weeks.
Recent Union data shows the average food service wage at the world-class airport to be only $18.27 – well below Metro Vancouver’s living wage of $25.68. Meanwhile, YVR Airport generated $492 million in 2022 and is on track to exceed that figure in 2023. In a survey of YVR food service workers conducted last month by the Union, 89% are struggling to keep up with bills or housing costs. 92% of these workers have had to cut back on other expenses to get by each month including nearly 40% stating they are buying less fresh food, and 52% who are not able to support family members as they have previously.
Of the workers at YVR Airport who do not earn a living wage, 78% of those surveyed are women, and most are immigrants. A large majority of SSP food service workers are racialized women. SSP food service worker demographics are in stark contrast to YVR’s own staff, who earn a living wage and are majority male, 65% white.
In addition to standing united for a living wage, the workers are fighting to have their transit reimbursement program reinstated by SSP. This program covers Uber and taxi rides for all SSP food service staff who work outside of SkyTrain hours. Currently, the workers are expected to spend hundreds of dollars on ride costs each month in order to work their scheduled shifts at the airport.
With this strike vote, food service workers send a strong message: end wage discrimination at YVR. Picket lines could go up after workers issue 72-hour strike notice.
Media Contact: Sharan Pawa, 604-710-1693, [email protected]
Press Release: YVR Airport Ends Ride Reimbursement Program Impacting Low Wage Workers
Low-paid food service workers, a majority racialized women, forced to spend hundreds out of pocket on transit costs
Richmond, BC – YVR International Airport suddenly on February 1st ended their transit reimbursement program which covers Uber and taxi rides for all airport staff who work outside of SkyTrain hours. This forces already low-paid food service workers to spend hundreds of dollars on ride costs in order to work their scheduled shifts at the airport, which can start or end between 1AM to 5AM.
UNITE HERE Local 40 – which represents YVR food service workers – has filed a Labour Board complaint against one of YVR’s largest food service operators, SSP Canada Food Services, for not reinstating its own long-standing practice of reimbursing staff for Uber and taxi rides outside of SkyTrain hours, which pre-dated the YVR program. YVR Airport began its own ride reimbursement program during the pandemic when food service operational hours were extended, at which point SSP discontinued its own program. SSP has not agreed to reinstate its own practice as of February 1st.
“I start my shift at the airport at 5:30AM, and I live in East Vancouver,” said Alexis Garciano, a worker at Sal Y Limon at YVR. “To get to there on time, I now have to pay for my Ubers early in the morning which is costing me an extra $100/week. I can’t change my work schedule either, because I have a son who I need to take care of in the afternoons. I’m an international student who also has to pay for my rent and tuition fees. For only getting paid $19.50/hour for my work at the airport, this added transit cost really hurts me and my family.”
YVR Airport generated $492 million in 2022 and is on track to exceed that figure in 2023. Meanwhile, hundreds of food service workers at YVR Airport earn well below Metro Vancouver’s living wage of $25.68; recent Union data shows the average food service wage to be only $18.27. A large majority of these workers are racialized women. In addition to their low wages at the world-class airport, some of these workers now have to pay up to $150 per week just to get to work.
“I’m a cook and I only accepted 4:30AM starting shifts because I was told I would be reimbursed for ride costs to the airport,” said Jennie Padilla, from Sal Y Limon at YVR. “I already have to pay for my own Compass transit card, and at times when public transit is not an option for workers, we should be reimbursed for rides needed to get to our jobs. YVR set our new earlier opening time, but now they are making the workers suffer by making us pay to get to work. Personally, it’s costing me around $25 every time I need to take an Uber to my morning shift, because no other options are available. This isn’t right, and I’m going to keep standing up for myself and for my coworkers until YVR shows us respect.”
Media Contact: Sharan Pawa, [email protected], 604-710-1693
Media Advisory: “Will representatives of the Fijiian Honourary Consul of Canada be crossing our picket line?” Strikers to hold New Year’s Eve Protest at The Deck at Radisson Blu
Richmond, BC – Striking hotel workers at Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport hotel will be ringing in 2024 with a protest over a New Year’s Eve event planned at the hotel’s restaurant, The Deck. Strikers have urged party organizers not to cross their picket line and requested they move their event elsewhere. The party is being co-organized by Abhi Prasad, Assistant to the Fijian Honourary Consul of Canada and head of Surrey-based Metropolitan Security, with Sparq Productions.
Workers have been on strike at Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport hotel for over two years – since hotel management terminated 143 workers, or 70% of their staff, during the pandemic. This impacted nearly all the hotel’s housekeepers and The Deck staff. Most of the impacted workers are women; many are from the South Asian community and worked at the hotel complex for decades. It is currently the longest hotel strike in Canada.
Protest Details
When: New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2023
Where: The Deck at Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport hotel, 3500 Cessna Drive, Richmond, BC. (The Deck is behind the hotel, on the marina side.)
Time: 6PM
Visuals: Hotel workers chanting and marching with signs and noisemakers.
Media Contact: Sharan Pawa, [email protected], 604-710-1693
Press Release: Calgary-based Bollywood choreographers urged to respect striking workers’ picket line on New Year’s Eve
Vancouver, BC — South Asian hotel workers are urging Sparq Productions, the Calgary-based Bollywood choreography and entertainment provider, not to cross their picket line this New Year’s Eve. Sparq Productions is slated to hold a New Year’s Eve event at The Deck at Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport where workers are currently on strike.
In a letter to Sparq Productions, striking workers call on event organizers to move their event to another venue to avoid crossing a picket line at the Vancouver area hotel. The workers have been on strike at Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport hotel since hotel management terminated 143 workers, or 70% of their staff, during the pandemic. Most of the impacted workers are women; many are from the South Asian community and worked at the hotel complex for decades. It is currently the longest hotel strike in Canada.
“Why are the owners of Sparq Productions disrespecting South Asian women by doing business with The Deck at Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport? Some of my co-workers worked at this hotel for over 40 years before being unjustly terminated; that’s one of the reasons why we made the difficult decision to strike. Why is a dance party more important than supporting those of us within the community?” said Pardeep Thandi, a striking room attendant who has worked at the hotel for over 28 years.
The pair behind Sparq Productions, Tania Lemos and Vishal Malpuria, have ignored calls to move their event to another venue. Sparq’s owners won the “South Asian Inspiration Award” last year, yet their plan to hold an event across picket lines is hypocritical to uplifting the South Asian community.
One of the affected workers filed a human rights complaint against the hotel employer (formerly named Pacific Gateway) on behalf of 90 women over sex and racial discrimination. The complaint alleges that hotel management’s terminations disproportionately impacted women and women of colour. The complaint was filed with the BC Human Rights Tribunal and is pending.
Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport is majority owned by PHI Hotel Group, which, until recently, managed the Westin Calgary Airport hotel. PHI Hotel Group and its owner are being sued by affiliates of Siksika Resource Development Ltd, the economic development arm of the Siksika Nation, for alleged fraud and misappropriation of $16 million in funds. The plaintiffs allege that the owner of PHI Hotel Group, which was responsible for overseeing Westin Calgary Airport when it was used as a federal quarantine hotel, diverted millions received from the government and funneled the money to entities related to PHI Hotel Group. The lawsuit is ongoing.
Media Contact: Sharan Pawa, 604-710-1693, [email protected]
Media Advisory – “SFU: Where is the money?” SFU workers to protest over living wage promises
Mass rally to take place Monday 2PM at SFU Burnaby Campus, Dining Commons
On Monday, December 11, dining workers, represented by UNITE HERE Local 40, and members of the Simon Fraser University (SFU) community will stand together to protest the university’s failure to pay dining workers a living wage.
As SFU administrators collect annual bonuses on top of their six-figure salaries, much of the dining staff earns less than $20 per hour. SFU has promised to pay a living wage to contracted dining workers, even budgeting $1.6 million for the increase. Yet, workers – many of them racialized women – have not seen a dime. Dining staff are not earning nearly enough to afford the cost of living in Metro Vancouver. The estimated living wage for a bare bones budget rose to $25.68 last month.
Many cafeteria workers only work nine months out of the year, which makes the call for living wages even more urgent. Family-supporting wages and year-round work could provide greater stability for SFU dining workers.
Contract workers are overworked and continue to be denied a living wage — more than a year after SFU said it would become a Living Wage Employer. The university treats contracted workers like they are second-class by denying them access to library services, barring their kids from on-campus daycares, and excluding their spouses and children from tuition discounts provided to faculty members.
Meanwhile, food and cleaning workers at UVic and UBC, who are university employees, are spared from holiday layoffs, while enjoying better pay and benefits than their SFU counterparts.
On Monday, students, faculty, professors, union leaders and community members will stand with contract workers to remind the SFU Administration that they cannot continue to ignore the workers who make the university work every day.
WHAT: Mass Protest at SFU Burnaby Campus
WHEN: Monday, December 11th at 2:00PM
WHO: SFU contracted dining staff joined by students, faculty, professors, union leaders and community members
WHERE: SFU Burnaby Campus, Dining Commons (8888 University Dr W, Burnaby)
VISUALS: Workers chanting, marching, and speaking with colourful signs and bullhorns
Media Contact: Kai Sharpe, 604-889-6960, [email protected]