Telecommunications Workers Union (TWU) members participated in a rally on September 22, 2011, in Burnaby, B.C., in support of Unite Here Local 40 members,

 working for the Hilton Metrotown Hotel, who have been without a contract since June 2010.

Workers at the Vancouver and Richmond sister hotels have managed to negotiate good union contracts which include workload relief, and improved benefits and wages.  Burnaby hotel workers deserve a fair contract, too.

On August 25, 100 Hilton Metrotown Hotel workers delivered a petition to hotel management along with the message: “We’re all working to support our families.  We just want to be paid fairly for the work we do and we want to be able to retire with dignity.”  The petition was signed by 85 per cent of the workers in the hotel.  Over a hundred workers have participated in bargaining so far.

Many of the Hilton Metrotown Hotel workers have been with the hotel since it opened its doors in 1999.  They feel a sense of loyalty to hotel guests, many of whom return year after year.  However, retirement, housekeeping workload, benefits and wages all weigh heavily on the minds of these workers as they think about the future.