Saturday, September 29, 2007 Vancouver hotel workers ratify new contract Hotel workers vow to stand in solidarity with workers at three other UNITE HERE hotels where contracts have expired Workers at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Four Seasons Hotel, Renaissance Vancouver Harbourside Hotel and Westin Bayshore Hotel voted yesterday to ratify a new union contract. The agreement was reached last week after marathon bargaining sessions between the hotel workers union and the four downtown Vancouver hotel properties. Eighty six percent of workers at the four hotels voted to approve the new three year agreement that is set to expire after the Olympic Games 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 Locals in Toronto, Hawaii and Washington, DC where contracts for those hotel workers also expire in 2010. Many of the hotel corporations who do business in Vancouver, like Westin and Hyatt, are multinational corporations, and hotel workers who work for these corporations face many of the same workplace issues all over North America. The new contract, covering 1400 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. The workers, who were involved in negotiation sessions from beginning to end, called the new agreement "the best contract they have ever achieved", and are taking great pride in the 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 they enter into contract negotiations seeking 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 June of this year. "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. | 
