Hospitality Workers Forging a New Standard for Good Jobs in the Service Sector Across the GTA

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Jan. 28, 2014) - As the fight to raise the minimum wage plays out across the province, UNITE HERE Local 75, the union for hospitality workers in the GTA, has established a new standard for good jobs in citywide hotel bargaining. Signed first at the Hilton Downtown Toronto in July 2013, the new contract standard includes a living wage, workload protections, improvements to health & welfare and pension, and increased job security.

Workers at UNITE HERE Local 75 properties including the Hilton Downtown Toronto, Hilton Airport, DoubleTree Downtown Toronto (formerly the Metropolitan Hotel) have succeeded in getting their employers to sign onto the new standard in the past few months. Just this past Friday, workers at the Eaton Chelsea, the site of a 10-day strike in 2010, also reached a tentative settlement with management. Workers at other hotels across the GTA are taking action to ensure no hotel is left behind. Further public actions are expected in the coming weeks.

What: Hospitality workers from across the GTA will hold a noisy rally today at the Courtyard by Marriott, another step in their fight to make hotel and hospitality jobs into good jobs. The rally, which will take place during afternoon rush hour, will feature signs, banners, whistles, drums and chanting.

Who: Over 8000 strong, Local 75 workers and their families have come from all over the world, and work in hotels, restaurants, cafeterias and racetracks across the GTA.

When: Tuesday, January 28, 2014 at 5pm

Where: Courtyard by Marriott (475 Yonge Street, just north of Yonge and Carlton)