|
Hotel workers demonstrate strong support for union at Novotel Mississauga
Workers call on MPP to witness mounting employer attacks
Mississauga, ON. On Monday, workers at the Accor-owned Hotel Novotel Mississauga took the first step towards forming a union at their workplace. Before filing for an election, however, a committee of workers actively organizing the union met with MPP Peter Tabuns (Toronto-Danforth), to discuss an aggressive anti-union campaign by their employer.
On Monday, the union submitted membership cards signed by a strong majority of workers at the Novotel Mississauga to the Ontario Labour Relations Board. The workers are seeking to join UNITE HERE Local 75, which represents thousands of hospitality workers in the region.
“I congratulate you all on your perseverance and your courage,” Tabuns told the assembled workers. “What you are doing has a broader significance; when workers manage to win a better standard of living, our entire community benefits.”
“If this were happening in 1994,” Tabuns said, “you would now have a union. In Ontario, we had a law for decades – under Liberal, Conservative and NDP governments – that held you could form a union in your workplace when over 55% of your co-workers signed membership cards.” In 1995, the Harris government eliminated this law.
Workers at the Novotel Mississauga have instead had to contend with mounting opposition to the union from their employer. The hotel is owned by the French-based Accor Group, one of the world’s largest hotel companies.
Rekha Sharma, a room service worker at the Novotel, spoke at a rally at the hotel in late March, attended by 300 hospitality workers, members of UNITE HERE Local 75 from across the GTA. About a week later, she was sent home, and has not been scheduled for any shifts since then. Shortly thereafter, two of her colleagues accompanied a delegation of community members to speak with the hotel’s General Manage about Ms. Sharma’s effective firing. They, too, were disciplined.
“This weekend, the General Manager held a mandatory meeting for everyone. He told us that there would never be a union here. He said, look at what happened to GM and Chrysler,” said Mahin Taheri, who works as a Room Attendant at the hotel. “We came to Canada to gain a better standard of living,” said Ms. Taheri, “But we also expect to be able to be able to speak freely and openly, and to be treated with respect”
UNITE HERE Local 75 has filed several charges against the Novotel Mississauga and Accor for violations of labour law.
“Now more than ever, workers need unions to be able to protect our jobs, our standard of living,” said Teferi Zemene, a volunteer organizer with UNITE HERE Local 75, who works at the Fairmont Royal York. “We’re going to stand by the workers at the Novotel Mississauga and make sure they enjoy the same freedoms and standards that so many of us do.”
UNITE HERE Local 75 represents thousands of hotel and hospitality workers across the GTA. UNITE HERE’s diverse membership includes many recent immigrants and a high proportion of women, working in hotels, restaurants, racetracks and casinos, laundry and food service companies, airport concessions and apparel, textile and general manufacturing and distribution centers.
For immediate release: contact JJ Fueser, 416-893-8570
Attention: News Editors |
