Here’s hoping none of the hotel guests staying at the Sheraton on Westminster Highway were looking forward to sleeping in on Thursday morning.
A small, but very noisy, group of disgruntled hotel workers carried out a “Wake-up” demonstration with pots, pans, whistles and horns at 7 a.m. to highlight what they claim are “low-end” wages for an increased workload, in comparison to neighbouring hotels.
The unexpected early-morning alarm call was to be followed by a 12-hour protest — by all 180 unionized housekeepers, front desk staff, bellhops and cooks — including a choir performance at lunchtime and a rally at 5 p.m.
The union, UNITE Here Local 40, is calling for a fair wage adjustment and wants the hotel owner — Larco Hospitality — to improve standards and workload safety at the hotel and bargain directly with the union, as opposed to a collective bargaining system involving 40 other properties.
Little progress has been made in several months of negotiations so far. Contact talks are scheduled to resume on Friday.
According to the union, the majority of the hotel’s 180 unionized employees claim their workloads have significantly increased out of line with their wages since the Sheraton took over the former Best Western Richmond Inn in 2010.
