By Harinder Mahil

I attended a rally in Burnaby in support of locked out Hilton Metrotown workers on Thursday, April 14. These workers, primarily women of colour including South Asians, were locked out by Hilton on April 15, 2021.More than 400 trade unionists and community representatives turned out in support of these workers. 

UNITE HERE, Local 40, which represents the locked-out workers, says the Hilton locked out room attendants, front desk agents, banquet, and kitchen staff on April 15, 2021, after terminating 97 long-term staff — a move that can only be called “mass firings” amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Most unions have boycotted the hotel and pulled about $2 million in business in 2022 to express their displeasure at the hotel’s tactics.  Lufthansa crew members moved their accommodations away from the hotel last year.

“At a time when the hotel industry is asking for government support to alleviate labour shortages, Hilton Metrotown is refusing to return their long-term staff who want to work. Workers will continue to reach out to customers and investors, and picket the hotel for as long as it takes!” said Zailda Chan, president of UNITE HERE Local 40.

The union is calling on management to end the lockout, reinstate all employees and offer them an agreement enjoyed by other hotel workers in British Columbia.

Hilton Metrotown put up a banner at the time of the rally to indicate that it is willing to go to binding arbitration to resolve the dispute. The Union says the hotel was imposing impossible conditions and that workers were invited back if they were willing to give up union health and pension benefits, paid time off and workload protections that protect health and safety. 

I have seen many strikes and lockouts in my life but never this nasty. The hotel appears to be punishing its employees for joining a union. 

What is happening at the Hilton Metrotown is just the tip of the iceberg. Women, hotel and hospitality workers, are hurting all over British Columbia. Many women workers, mostly immigrants, are hurting because of losing their jobs during the pandemic.  

Hilton Metrotown workers are determined to fight back to make sure all fired workers are brought back to their jobs as part of a new collective agreement.

These workers deserved our full support.

Harinder Mahil is a community activist and President of the West Coast Coalition Against Racism (WCCAR).