Thursday, July 16, 2020 at 12pET/9aPT
Contact: Meghan Cohorst, [email protected], 239-503-1533
Click here to register in advance
Hospitality workers union UNITE HERE Canada to detail state of Canadian hospitality industry, call for implementation of essential recommendations for a safe and successful return to work
UNITE HERE Canada will host a video press conference on state of Canadian hospitality and steps necessary to ensure a safe and successful return to work. Union members and leadership will share their personal experiences, concerns about upcoming changes to CEWS and CERB, and recommendations, including a perspective on lessons to be learned from reopening experience in the U.S.
WHEN: Thursday, July 16 at 12:00pm ET / 9:00am PT
WHERE: Register for access information here:
https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_GMcMjMhIRbmOwtBjdJ8aVQ
WHO:
- UNITE HERE members working in the hotel industry in British Columbia and Ontario
- Ian Robb, UNITE HERE Canadian Director
- Nia Winston, UNITE HERE Local 24 President, Detroit, MI USA
WHY: Canadian hospitality workers—including more than 18,000 represented by the six UNITE HERE locals in British Columbia, Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Alberta —were among the first and hardest hit by the economic impact of COVID-19. Over 90% of hospitality workers in the country’s hotels, airports, stadiums, universities, schools, and remote resource camps have been laid off since March.
Analysts predict that the industry may not fully recover until Summer 2022, leading to fewer available jobs, extended periods of unemployment, and uncertainty for tens of thousands of Canadian workers and their families. Putting workers at the center of the recovery is key for preventing a second wave of COVID-19 in Canada and for restoring confidence in their return to work.
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UNITE HERE is a labour union that represents over 300,000 members working in the hotel, gaming, food service, manufacturing, textile, distribution, laundry, transportation, and airport industries in North America. UNITE HERE represents over 18,000 hotel and hospitality workers across six locals in Canada.
—
Meghan Cohorst
UNITE HERE
239-503-1533
[email protected]
Press Advisory: Statement by UNITE HERE Local 40 President re: BC tourism sector’s request for $680 million government bailout
Press Advisory
July 21, 2020
Media Contacts: Michelle Travis, 778-960-9785, [email protected];
or Stephanie Fung, 604-928-7356, [email protected]
Vancouver, BC – Statement by Zailda Chan, President of UNITE HERE Local 40:
“If BC’s tourism sector wants an extraordinary $680 million relief package from the province, then 50,000 laid-off hotel workers need a legal right to return to their jobs as hotels reopen.There is no doubt the industry and its workers have been hard-hit, but we are watching major hotel employers use the pandemic as an excuse to fire laid-off workers and undercut labour standards.Any future emergency grants or property tax relief to the sector needs to put workers first.No industry should be getting government relief without a guarantee that laid-off workers have the legal right to return to their jobs as businesses recover.”
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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.
MEDIA ADVISORY FOR NATIONAL TELEPRESS CONFERENCE for Thursday, July 16 (9amPT/Noon ET)
Thursday, July 16, 2020 at 12pET/9aPT
Contact: Meghan Cohorst, [email protected], 239-503-1533
Click here to register in advance
Hospitality workers union UNITE HERE Canada to detail state of Canadian hospitality industry, call for implementation of essential recommendations for a safe and successful return to work
UNITE HERE Canada will host a video press conference on state of Canadian hospitality and steps necessary to ensure a safe and successful return to work. Union members and leadership will share their personal experiences, concerns about upcoming changes to CEWS and CERB, and recommendations, including a perspective on lessons to be learned from reopening experience in the U.S.
WHEN: Thursday, July 16 at 12:00pm ET / 9:00am PT
WHERE: Register for access information here:
https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_GMcMjMhIRbmOwtBjdJ8aVQ
WHO:
WHY: Canadian hospitality workers—including more than 18,000 represented by the six UNITE HERE locals in British Columbia, Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Alberta —were among the first and hardest hit by the economic impact of COVID-19. Over 90% of hospitality workers in the country’s hotels, airports, stadiums, universities, schools, and remote resource camps have been laid off since March.
Analysts predict that the industry may not fully recover until Summer 2022, leading to fewer available jobs, extended periods of unemployment, and uncertainty for tens of thousands of Canadian workers and their families. Putting workers at the center of the recovery is key for preventing a second wave of COVID-19 in Canada and for restoring confidence in their return to work.
###
UNITE HERE is a labour union that represents over 300,000 members working in the hotel, gaming, food service, manufacturing, textile, distribution, laundry, transportation, and airport industries in North America. UNITE HERE represents over 18,000 hotel and hospitality workers across six locals in Canada.
—
Meghan Cohorst
UNITE HERE
239-503-1533
[email protected]
Breaking: Pan Pacific Hotel Forcing Workers to Sign Away Their Rights?
BREAKING NEWS:
The Pan Pacific Hotel in Vancouver is giving its workers a deadline to sign away their current working conditions to become casual, on-call staff and their rights to claim severance. The hotel cites the pandemic as an excuse to force workers to sign away their labour rights.
According to a document obtained by UNITE HERE Local 40, workers at the non-union Pan Pacific have been given a deadline of today, Tuesday, July 14. A copy of the agreement can be found here: https://www.uniteherelocal40.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Pan-Pacific-Agreement.pdf
Zailda Chan, UNITE HERE Local 40 president, blasted the Pan Pacific Hotel for forcing workers to sign away their rights and said the Province shares the blame: “This is yet another egregious example of a hotel employer taking advantage of the pandemic to strip away workers’ rights. Is this what the Province and Tourism Minister Lisa Beare have in mind when they say they expect employers to work with their laid-off employees? The Province must take responsibility for protecting workers laid-off due to Covid. Otherwise, thousands more workers will be stripped of their rights and fired.”
Last month, Premier Horgan called on employers to do the right thing and keep their workforce intact. The Premier said that if the government needs to take steps in the legislature to protect workers, they will do so. Tourism Minister Lisa Beare continues to remain silent when pressed on what she will do to support tourism workers.
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.
Contact: Michelle Travis, [email protected], 778-960-9785
Local 40 Sodexo Proposal: 3 Year Agreement
Wage Increases
-Immediate $4-5 increase (equal to KMP contract)
-$1 increase every year thereafter
Overtime/Shifts
-10 hour guarantee for those who want it
-Overtime- 1.5x after 8 hours, 1.5x on Saturdays 2x on Sundays
Pension
-Local 40 Civeo Pension: $3.85/hour
Benefits
-Local 40 Benefits- 100% Paid by company
-Note: Local 40 benefits are far superior to Sodexo/Steelworker proposal
Housekeeping Workload
-# Rooms: 8hr-20 rooms 10hr-24 rooms
-Each check out counts for 2 rooms
-Each linen change counts for 1.5 room
-Rooms Clean every day
Travel- Flights paid for 100% by the company
Compensation for Locals
-50 cent/Km travel pay
-Child Care Subsidy
-Options for locals to stay in camp
Note: most of what is in this proposal, has already been won by Local 40 members in Kitimat. A $40 billion contract has more than enough money to meet our demands.
Statement by Zailda Chan, UNITE HERE Local 40 President, regarding B.C.’s extension of temporary COVID-19 layoff provisions
“We are incredibly disappointed by the Government’s decision today to extend temporary layoffs and delay severance to help the business community without any protections for workers. The government had to put 50,000 hotel workers out of work, but with no legal rights to get their jobs back. Hotel workers are already being permanently terminated as a result of this pandemic. A wave of terminations may come in September. This decision falls far short of what laid-off workers need to stay connected to their jobs. The B.C. government needs to act and protect workers – not just businesses.”