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Workers at the Westin Prince hotel in Toronto are the latest Local 7575 unit to negotiate significant improvements after joining Unifor.
“Joining Unifor has paid off for thousands of workers in the hospitality industry,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “Our members at the Westin Prince have worked hard to earn a fair collective agreement.”
Over the term of the three-year contract, wages will increase 10.6% (cumulative), more than double the company’s opening offer. The union says that an important cornerstone of the new collective agreement is the guarantee that there will be no conversion of the hotel to condominiums.
“Solidarity paid off,” says Andrea Henry, Chief Steward at the Westin. “The bargaining committee was able to secure these gains because the members delivered a strong mandate and stood behind us.”
Unifor was successful at enshrining a Women’s Advocate position in the collective agreement, as well as securing a mechanism for protecting workers from harassment by guests and introducing alert devices (panic buttons) for room attendants.
The Westin Prince is the third Toronto hotel where Unifor has beaten back Marriott’s so-called Green Choice, a labour-cutting program masquerading as an environmental program. Guests are offered incentives for declining housekeeping service, leading to reduced work hours and layoffs. Under the new contract, Westin Room Attendants will not lose hours due to the Green Choice program, bringing several members back to work.
