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Union president Zailda Chan says women at the hotel are on the verge of losing everything they worked so hard for when they immigrated to Canada.
“Will Prime Minister Trudeau allow this to happen? We cannot allow hotels like Pacific Gateway to roll back the clock on women’s economic livelihoods,” Chan said, in a statement Friday.
Union spokesperson Stephanie Fung said the hotel recently fired a dozen workers, with up to 19 years on the job.
The majority of workers haven’t had shifts since the pandemic hit, so that puts 140 to 150 workers at risk of permanently losing their jobs by the end of March, added Fung.
“The Liberal Government has acknowledged that women and racialized Canadians have
borne the brunt of the pandemic,” the release states. “Yet, the federal quarantine hotel’s actions are destroying the livelihoods of Canada’s most vulnerable workers. Women at Pacific Gateway are not allowing this to happen without a fight to save their hotel jobs.
“When the picket line goes up, we expect the Prime Minister to join us in saying ‘no’ to
unequal women in the hotel industry,” said UNITE HERE Local 40 President, Zailda Chan.
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However, the federal government has brought in the Red Cross to perform the responsibilities typically performed by hotel workers.
While the union is not asking for the quarantine site to be relocated, they are seeking for assurances of job security and compensation 24 months to return to their jobs, and a bridge through the pandemic.
The federal government has repeatedly extended the contact to use the hotel, which has been described as an “involuntary seizure with no clear end date.” The latest extension pushes the quarantine site’s location at the hotel through at least March 31, 2021.
Exterior of Pacific Gateway Hotel near Vancouver International Airport. (Pacific Gateway Hotel)