Workers locked out by the Hilton Metrotown hotel have written to WorkSafeBC demanding it be shut down, claiming there aren’t enough people to safely clean the 283-room facility.
Zailda Chan, president of UNITE HERE Local 40, wrote the letter after workers were locked out April 15 in a labour dispute stemming from many workers previously losing their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic – a move they called “mass firings.”
“We are calling on WorkSafeBC to shut down the Hilton Metrotown hotel as it poses a health and safety danger to the public,” the letter says. “We were shocked that the Hilton did not close its doors upon locking out the staff. As a 283-room hotel with only 13 permissible managers able to work, it is simply impossible for the hotel to maintain its rigorous COVID safety plan. Furthermore, the large majority of the experienced and well-trained hotel cleaning staff are involved in the labour dispute and not at work.”
The union also says that international flight crews stay at the hotel, posing a further risk if rooms and other hotel areas are not cleaned properly.
