“We will not rest”: Workers organize for respect and right to unionize at Renaissance hotel

“We will not rest”: Workers organize for respect and right to unionize at Renaissance hotel

Lis Pimentel, President of Unite Here Local 75, stands with the cheerful crowd in front of the Renaissance Hotel

By Ysh Cabana

TORONTO–Filipino immigrant workers and community leaders gathered in front of the Renaissance Toronto Downtown Hotel (Skydome) November 3 to call the management to stop hurting housekeepers.

Workers from the Toronto Renaissance Hotel were supported by migrant advocates from Migrante Canada, youth group Anakbayan and fellow members of Unite Here Local 75.

“We are here to demand respect and fair workload and job security for housekeepers around the world,” said Lis Pimentel, President of Unite Here Local 75, the hospitality workers’ union in Toronto.

Rennaissance Hotel housekeepers, many of whom immigrant women from the Philippines, report bad experiences and work-related pain despite the length of service with Larco Hospitality. Others have experienced violations of basic rights in their efforts to get unionized and organize their bargaining unit.

Amparo Landino, a Filipino immigrant, is one of those employees who used to work in the hotel’s office. She has been working at the downtown hotel for 27 years and wants their basic demands met.

“We need security. If we have security  for the job, then the ext generation may continue,” said Landino. “We are treated like slaves. When you speak (against the management), they will say ‘the door is open.’”

She explained that only held onto the job despite being dispatched to a shift not convenient to her because she needs the job.
In July, workers at the Renaissance voted to form their union. Charges of repeatedly breaking provincial labour law in an attempt to interfere with workers’ right to organize were filed with the Ontario Labour Relations Board against Larco Hospitality.

Luz Flores, a room attendant, said that the management threaten them with termination.

“When Larco management found out that we were organizing, all of us room attendants were told that, if the union came in, the company would start writing us up if they found anything wrong with the rooms that we clean each day and that after three mistakes, we could be terminated. Many of us have worked here for more than a decade and we need these jobs to support our families,” said Flores.

A labour board mediation is underway by the end of November to be followed by hearings.

Chris Koehler, works at the Marriott Bloor Yorkville, another Larco-owned property in downtown Toronto

Chris Koehler, who has been working at the Marriott Bloor Yorkville for 17 years, spoke of the need for worker solidarity across the country.

“We are currently engaged in helping Vancouver to fight Larco there. I’ve been out there for a number of times for a number of times what they are going through and it’s the same what we are experiencing here,” said Koehler.

“No matter where we stand, no matter our backgrounds are, our countries, our heritages, we expect fair treatment for the work that we produce and reproduce, the work for the city and the hospitality industry. We are a key component in that,” Koehler added.

Based in West Vancouver, Larco Hospitality was formed in 1998 to manage a hotel portfolio owned by its parent company, a land development firm. The privately held company, owned by brothers Amin and Mansoor Lalji, has bought and held assets that include hotels, storage facilities, apartmens and federal government buildings.

The Lalji family cannot be reached for comment.

At the Thursday demonstration, workers and migrants advocates chanted slogans of solidarity with a positive tone. The Toronto action coincided with the International Housekeeping Global Week of Action, featuring simultaneous actions in more than a dozen countries.

Jesson Reyes of Migrante Canada, an alliance of Filipino migrant organizations, commended the organizers and expressed support to the hotel workers.

Hotel workers at Renaissance in Toronto

“Over the years, our community has witnessed numbers of victories from the ranks of Unite Here organizers. Together, through our united stand we shall overcome challenges and strengthen our ranks,” Reyes said.

The union represents hotel and hospitality workers in the Greater Toronto Area — more than 65 per cent of hotels in the city are unionized.

Lei Eigo, a member of Unite Here 75, wants standards be raised, equal rights be respected and the collective bargaining to include this scope at their hotels.

“The most important thing of all is the successorship language in a union contract that once the hotel is sold, the workers will stay,” said Eigo.

“We all know how hard it is to work in the hotel, especially the housekeeping which is the heart and soul of any hotel.”
A labour board mediation is underway by the end of November to be followed by hearings.