UNITE HERE members working at the Hyatt Regency, Four Seasons, Renaissance Vancouver Harbourside Hotel and Westin Bayshore in Vancouver voted to ratify a new union contract on September 28 after marathon bargaining sessions, taking place under the pressure of a looming strike deadline, proved successful in reaching a tentative agreement. Eighty six percent of members voting approved the new three year agreement, set to expire just after the Olympic Games come to Vancouver and Whistler in 2010. The contract expiration date was a crucial element in this round of bargaining as Vancouver hotel workers will now join with other UNITE HERE hotel workers in Toronto, Hawaii and Washington DC, who will also see their contracts expire in 2010. The new contract, covering more than 1,400 Local 40 members who work as housekeepers, banquet servers, front desk agents, dishwashers, cooks, and in other departments, features 12% wage increases over three years, an improved pension plan estimated to provide a 50% increase in the monthly pension benefit earned per year, and significant workload changes to deal with the increases in housekeeper on-the-job pain and injuries. Hotel workers were actively involved in the negotiations from start to finish, and called the new agreement “the best contract we have ever achieved!” After reaching the tentative agreement, hotel workers were taking great pride in their worker-led organizing effort that resulted in the historic agreement. “Over a few short months, we made our union much stronger by getting involved and getting informed. Because we did that, we got a much better contract this time than last time - 12% over three years vs. 7% over four years. There are still some things we need to work for, but this is a great victory that takes us closer to making these jobs good jobs that allow us to live and work in dignity,” said Beth Marshall, a server at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. While workers at the four downtown Vancouver hotels celebrated their victory, they also vowed to continue to work together to help hotel workers at three other UNITE HERE hotels in the Greater Vancouver area as those members enter into contract negotiations determined to achieve the same standards. Contracts at the Delta Vancouver Airport Hotel in Richmond, the Hilton Vancouver Metrotown Hotel in Burnaby and the Holiday Inn Broadway in Vancouver, covering approximately 600 workers, expired in May and June of this year. (See Bargaining Updates.) “By standing together we were able to make significant improvements in wages and working conditions in our new contract. Now, we will stand together with workers at the three other hotels so that they too can come closer to making their jobs good jobs,” said Shanta Prasad, a 30-year housekeeping worker at the Four Seasons in Vancouver. | 
