Just Demands of Hospitality
Workers for Job Protection
Hospitality Workers Must Be at the Centre of Any Sectoral Relief Package
 
Unite Here Local 40 in British Columbia organized
a lively car rally in downtown Vancouver on June 3, calling on the
public, including workers from all sectors, to participate in cars and
on foot to support the just demands of hospitality workers for
protection of their jobs. Hundreds of people participated in cars
adorned with their union flags, placards and banners in support of the
hotel workers. The caravan passed, honking, in front of the Hyatt
Regency Hotel in downtown Vancouver where Unite Here members with
T-shirts and placards were demonstrating.
 Most of the
members of Unite Here Local 40 work in restaurants and hotels and the
union reports that 90 per cent of their members have been out of work
since airports, hotels and restaurants were shut down in mid-March. The
majority of the workers affected are women and national minorities, and
many have worked in the industry for decades. Having waged a long and
courageous fight for improved working conditions the workers are
determined not to lose what they have gained by employers using the
justification of the pandemic to not re-hire them.
In an article published in The Hill Times on
May 7, the presidents of Unite Here Local 40 in British Columbia,
Zailda Chan,and Local 75 in the Greater Toronto
area, Guled Warsame, explained the situation and demands of their
members who have been impacted by the shutdown of tourism and air
travel in the conditions of the pandemic:
"Canada's hospitality and travel industries face
unprecedented economic devastation. As leaders of hospitality unions
based in Toronto and Vancouver, two of Canada's top hospitality
markets, we understand that airlines, airports, and hotels are
potential sites of mass viral transmission. That means hospitality
workers will return to the job slowly as public health authorities
struggle to understand how we can hold meetings and conventions safely.
It may be at least a year or 18 months before we are back to work full
time.
 "Desperate to
stay afloat, hospitality and airline industries and aviation
authorities are asking for sectoral relief, such as forgivable loans,
rent and fee waivers, tax deferrals and relaxed regulations. While
government should consider the unique impact the pandemic has on our
sectors, we believe the industry's workers must be at the centre of any
sectoral relief package....
"In the face of long-term uncertainty, hospitality
workers need to stay connected to their jobs or risk falling through
the cracks. That means business, government, and labour need to work
together to ensure workers have adequate income replacement, maintain
benefits over a period of long unemployment or underemployment, and the
right to come back to their jobs. The new Canada Employment Wage
Subsidy (CEWS) is central to this effort. CEWS allows workers to
maintain 75 to 100 per cent of their income whether they work or not,
and unlike CERB or employment insurance, reimburses health benefit
costs and keeps a crucial connection to a job in a seasonal industry."
The same demands were presented in a letter sent
April 16 to Finance Minister Morneau from Ian Robb,
President/Administrator of Unite Here Local 47 in Alberta, in which he
also pointed out that workers in high COVID-19 risk worksites must have
government certified health and safety training, full PPE and
appropriate hazard pay.
The local presidents report that most employers in
the sector have not expressed an interest in re-hiring laid off staff
through the CEWS, but that employers are asking the government for more
financial relief. The unions are asking for a commitment from
government that such relief, including relief for rent, mortgage or
other loan payments, should be conditional on employers committing to
keep workers on their payrolls. They are asking that governments at all
levels ensure that workers' right to be recalled to their jobs be
extended to 24 months and point out that recall rights in collective
agreements, where the workers are organized and where there are such
provisions, are varied. Workers who are not union members have no such
protections. The unions point out that this protection must extend to
all workers, including the many hospitality workers who are not
directly employed by hotels or airlines, but work for subcontractors.
They give the example of airport concession workers and demand that
there must be a commitment to protect the current workforce even if the
airport changes subcontractors.
This article was published in
Number 44 - June 25, 2020
Article Link:
Just Demands of Hospitality
Workers for Job Protection: Hospitality Workers Must Be at the Centre of Any Sectoral Relief Package
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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