VANCOUVER, British Columbia — After a strike battle that lasted 1,411 days — nearly four years — members of UNITE HERE Local 40 registered an important victory ratifying a new contract.
“Being brave paid off for workers at the Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport [Hotel]. During the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, 70% of the hotel’s unionized staff were terminated. Instead of giving up, the workers stood strong through rain, snow, heat and other extremes to fight back,” Zailda Chan, president of UNITE HERE Local 40, said in a union statement. “They made history by striking longer than any worker in Canada has before.” Not only did the strikers win back their jobs, “but they also showed that if you dare to fight and never give up, you will win.”
At the beginning of the pandemic, the Canadian government used the hotel, then known as the Pacific Gateway, as a quarantine location for international travelers. They replaced the fired workers with Red Cross personnel.
The hotel bosses raked in millions of dollars from the federal government for 400 rooms always fully booked during the pandemic.
When the pandemic wound down and the government deal was rescinded, the hotel returned to regular business, bringing in “replacement” workers in hopes of breaking the union.
The workers went on strike in May 2021, demanding workers terminated during the pandemic be reinstated. They won support from customers and the labor movement.
The new contract provides for the recall of all fired workers based on seniority, with “no rollbacks on wages, benefits and working conditions,” the union reported. Other gains include medical benefit improvements, new personal days and sick days that may be carried over. Returning room attendants will earn up to 28.25 Canadian dollars an hour ($19.75); returning cooks will earn up to CA$32.50 an hour.
“I feel great about our new contract,” said Jillan Louie, a server. “My co-workers have been a second family to me. I am so proud that we stuck together.”