Hotel workers at Hilton Metrotown in Burnaby who have been locked out by their employer in April after protest what their union has called “mass firings” got some high-profile support on Monday.
Burnaby South MP and federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh gave a speech and met with the workers who have been protesting outside of the Burnaby hotel for months.
Singh showed up to show solidarity for the locked-out workers.
The union says the employer has refused to commit to return 97 long-term workers back to their jobs as business recovers. The lockout impacts all Hilton Metrotown workers including room attendants, front desk agents, laundry attendants, kitchen staff and other hourly workers. The workers are represented by UNITE HERE Local 40.
“Hilton Metrotown is taking women and racialized workers hostage in order to impose permanent changes during the pandemic. When workers refused to accept management’s plan to get rid of their co-workers, the hotel fired them and locked out the rest. This hotel wants to undermine the economic security of women and immigrant workers who put this hotel on the map. We won’t let them get away with that,” said Zailda Chan, president of UNITE HERE Local 40.
Earlier this year, the City of Burnaby announced it would not spend city money at the hotel.
