Monday, July 21, 2008

UNITE HERE Local 75 Holiday Inn Walkout



UNITE HERE Local 75 members working at Holiday Inn Toronto-Airport East walk out of work in the second day of rolling actions to show strength and push negotiations forward.

The half-day walkout follows a similar action held at the Radisson Suites Airport yesterday which included support from hotel workers from across the GTA. The lunch-hour walkouts put the employer on notice while minimizing the impact on the guests.

Workers clad in union placards poured out of the Holiday Inn Toronto-Airport East chanting "The WORKERS UNITED!"

"We're determined to work together as hotel workers to raise the standards so we can support our families" states Julie Muise a front desk clerk at the Holiday Inn Toronto-Airport East, "Unfortunately, it seems that the big companies underestimate us and our unity."

Thousands of workers at scores of hotels throughout the GTA have succeeded in improving working conditions. Workers at the Radisson Suites Airport and Holiday Inn Airport East are mobilizing to join other hotel workers in raising overall industry standards.

Negotiations at a third UNITE HERE Local 75 hotel, the Fairmont Royal York are moving forward and the strike or lockout deadline has been pushed back to midnight July 27, 2008. All three hotels are owned or operated by affiliates of the Westmont Hospitality Group.

These actions are part of the "Hotel Workers Rising" campaign, also dubbed "Immigrant Workers Rising."

Workers at the Radisson Suites Airport and Holiday Inn Airport East,
members of UNITE HERE Local 75, are mobilizing to join other hotel workers
in raising overall industry standards.

Wages, benefits, workload, and job security of the primarily immigrant
workers at the Radisson Suites Airport and Holiday Inn Airport East, fall
far behind those negotiated by workers in many other hotels across the
GTA.

The workers at Radisson Suites Airport and Holiday Inn Airport East have
been in a legal strike or lockout position since midnight July 10, 2008.


For more information contact:
Sima Sahar Zerehi, Communications Specialist
Hotel Workers Rising Toronto, UNITE HERE! Local 75
Email: szerehi@unitehere.ca


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