Laid-off workers want priority in rehiring in return to jobs
A caravan of about 100 honking vehicles gathered near the Oakland airport Monday in a rally organized by hotel and airport workers fighting to get their jobs back.
The workers want the Oakland City Council to pass an emergency “right to recall” ordinance, which would guarantee that hotel, airport and some restaurant workers laid off during coronavirus shutdowns get priority if their former employers start hiring back. The proposal is expected to be introduced today by councilmember Sheng Thao.
“We live day by day for food, rent,” said Hidalia Cruz, who was a housekeeper for the Oakland Holiday Inn & Suites until she was laid off in early April. “We don’t have savings. We need this.”
California has lost 43.9% of its leisure and hospitality jobs since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, far exceeding other economic sectors, according to a monthly California Labor Market Review in May from the state’s Employment Development Department. Roughly 10,800 Oakland workers would be affected by the right to recall legislation, according to an estimate by the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy. These mostly low-wage workers are anxiously waiting for their employers to start hiring employees back.
“But some unscrupulous employers will use the COVID-19 crisis as a pretext to remove older workers in favor of cheaper, new workers, or to remove workers who have spoken up for their rights in the past,” wrote Thao in a report to the city council.
“However bad their economy is, ours is worse right now,” said Cruz about hotel and airport employers. Cruz, who is a single mother of two, said the ordinance is her best hope.
For restaurant workers, the proposed law isn’t as promising. Although fastfood franchises and event centers are included, restaurants employing less than 500 are not. EBASE estimates about 5,400 restaurant workers would be excluded — more than half of the restaurant industry in Oakland.
“This has been a lowblow for restaurant employees because they’ve been counting down the seconds before they can go back to work,” said Maria Moreno, a restaurant worker and community organizer for the Restaurant Opportunity Center.
Organized labor groups around the state have been pushing similar measures. San Francisco and Los Angeles have adopted right to recall ordinances, and multiple agencies are now pushing for statewide legislation.
“We’re talking about workers who have spent their entire careers — 30, 40 years — working in these industries, often for the same employers,” said Louise Auerhahn, director of economic and workforce policy for Working Partnerships USA, an organization pushing for AB3216, a bill that would grant some hospitality and leisure workers a right to recall. “We just think it’s right for those who have devoted their lives to these jobs to have the opportunity to go back to work once they’re up and running again.”