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Richmond hotels break labour rules again amid ongoing strike

The Sheraton received a cease and desist last week for using six scab workers
sheraton-strike
Striking workers from the Sheraton in Richmond walk the streets outside the hotel

Three airport hotels in Richmond have again fallen foul of a BC Labour Board ruling, amid ongoing strike action by workers.

The hotels, Sheraton Vancouver Airport Hotel, Hilton Vancouver and Vancouver Airport Mariott, were ordered last week to stop using non-union drivers to do scab work during the Sheraton workers’ strike.

The three hotels, in Richmond city centre, had contracted shuttle bus companies, paid cab drivers directly and reimbursed guests for taxi rides to and from the airport, according to UNITE HERE Local 40, the union representing striking employees.

Under Canada’s Labour Code, employers are forbidden from using replacement workers, or scabs, to perform work normally carried out by employees on strike.

The decision came one week after the Sheraton was caught and got a cease and desist for using six unlawful replacement workers. The hotel was ordered to provide a daily list of permissible replacement workers and their specific assignments and duties.

Hundreds of UNITE HERE Local 40 members launched the strike three weeks ago on June 14 to protest pay and working conditions.

Last week, after the Sheraton received a cease and desist, the BC Federation of Labour declared a public boycott of all three airports, which are all operated by Larco Hospitality. The Hilton and the Marriott, sister hotels to the Sheraton, are both non-union.

- With files from Alan Campbell.