Hotel staff offered wage hikes in new deal

A tentative deal offering “significant” wage hikes has been reached in the strike by 1,200 Vancouver hotel workers, most of whom have been off the job for about a month, according to their union.

The Unite Here Local 40 union, which negotiated the deal for the workers of the Hyatt Regency, Westin Bayshore, Pinnacle Harbourfront and Four Seasons hotels, said in a news release the tentative deal has secured “significant” wage hikes over four years, protections against sexual harassment and job security for room attendants and kitchen and restaurant workers, and maintained health insurance.

But union spokeswoman Sharan Pawa said by phone that she couldn’t discuss any details of the deal before the members have voted on whether or not to accept it, expected Wednesday.

“It’s all up to them now,” she said. “We are happy with the tentative agreement, but it is up to the members now to cast their vote.”

She couldn’t say how soon workers could return to their jobs at the Westin Bayshore, Hyatt Regency and Pinnacle Harbourfront, after the vote.

The Hotel Association of Vancouver, which represents the hotels, had offered a 15 per cent pay raise over four years during talks, according to a statement by one of the hotels.

Pawa said the protections requested by the union for its members included panic buttons, guests bans, whistleblower protection and special safety provisions.

The workers have been walking the picket line at the Westin, Hyatt and Pinnacle Harbourfront since Sept. 19. The Four Seasons is part of the same bargaining unit and its 200 workers will be covered by the same deal, even though those workers didn’t walk a picket line because of an unrelated ownership issue.

No deal has been reached yet with the Rosewood Hotel Georgia, where the strike began Sept. 22, and the picket line remains active, said Pawa.

The employees of the three hotels with a tentative deal Tuesday joined the line outside the Hotel Georgia, she said.

The Hotel Georgia workers have been without a collective agreement since January 2019.

Being off the job for 27 days was worth it for Pinnacle Harbourfront room attendant Nym Calvez, who was also on the negotiating team.

“If our strike wasn’t as strong for these three weeks, we wouldn’t have got this great deal,” she said.