UNITE HERE applauds the leadership in the Senate in creating a comprehensive and bipartisan framework for immigration reform. Crucially, the bill outlines a pathway to citizenship, protections for workers rights, and provisions to reunite immigrant families. For hundreds of thousands of our immigrant members and future members in our industries, such legislation would be transformative.
Immigrant workers play a vital role in our economy. Like all Americans, they want the opportunity to provide for themselves an their families. We are eager to take part in a dialogue about the legislation, so that immigrants can achieve citizenship and participate as full and members of our society.
For press inquiries, please contact Annemarie Strassel at [email protected] or (312) 617-0495.
President of the Hotel Trades Council and Business Manager of UNITE HERE Local 6 Peter Ward joined esteemed Irish Consul General Noel Kilkenny as a speaker at the March 27th St. Patricks Day Celebration banquet, hosted by NYC Department of Records and O’Dwyer & Bernstien, LLP in honor of New York’s Irish Labor Force.
As Ward celebrated the legacy of Irish labor he also cautioned that the "human, legal and social institutions" that Irish and other immigrant laborers helped build over the last century are under attack. Today, Ward said, labor has a responsibility to protect the public education system, public university system, public parks and all the other institutions that are the pillars of a democratic New York City.
Peter closed his speech reminding the audience that the fight that Irish and other immigrant workers started over a century ago to ensure that New York "belongs to its people" is nowhere near over.
Here are some powerful excerpts:
"As I’m sure many of you would agree, when I look at those black and white pictures of immigrants arriving at Ellis Island from many countries, I don’t see the inferior subhumans that many of the so-called native Americans saw. I see heroes and heroines with courage and determination, ready to work and fight for a better future. They gave us the right to say ‘We Built this City.’ That’s how I think of my grandparents and great grandparents.
"And they are still coming. The pictures are now in color. The clothing and the luggage is different. They arrive at JFK, not Ellis Island, but they are no different than our grandparents and great grandparents. They bring with them the same courage and determination, and they too face persecution, prejudice and vicious exploitation.
"Like our grandparents and great grandparents, they came here to build a life and a legacy for themselves that their children’s children will look back on with pride. Our future, and the future of this great city are inexorably tied to them. They are also who we are.
"So when we say ‘We Built this City,’ let us remember two things: first, that the word ‘we’ includes all the working people of New York, from Europe, Africa, Asia, the Pacific, and the Americas; and second, that the work of building this city, and the fight to ensure that it belongs to its people are far from finished."
"Our union is a family. We are overcome with grief alongside Patty and Billy Campbell and their family, who lost their loved one Krystle on Monday. We join the rest of the Boston community in mourning her death and remembering her life. The thoughts of all of Boston’s hotel workers are with the Campbells and with the families of the other victims of Monday’s attack. We will support our union sister Patty and our union brother Billy in the aftermath of this unimaginable loss."
–Statement of Brian Lang, President of UNITE HERE Local 26.
Krystle Campbell, daughter of Local 26 member Patty Campbell and sister of member Billy Campbell, died Monday from injuries sustained at the finish line of the Boston Marathon.
On Friday, March 30th, the Floor Housekeepers at the Intercontinental Times Square voted unanimously to ratify their first union contract. The eight floor housekeepers are now part of the same Union as the rest of the housekeeping department, and are protected by the same contract.
This contract represents a huge economic victory for the workers in terms of wages and benefits. The eight members received raises of $2.50 an hour or more, which comes to an immediate 13% raise for the majority of the supervisors, retroactive to February 13th of this year. This contract also gives the workers guaranteed yearly wage raises, something they never had before. By the end of this contract, the new members will see their wages rise by nearly 29%, reaching an hourly wage for the majority of the Floor Housekeepers of $34.44 by 2019. The workers are now also eligible to receive 100% employer-funded family health care, and have the choice to join the wholly employer-funded pension plan.
Along with the wage increases, the Floor Housekeepers won the many rights that our Industry-Wide Agreement provides over 27,000 other hotel workers here in New York City. They are now protected by rights such as job security, scheduling rights, overtime after 8 hours a day as well as 40 hours a week, the strongest health and safety language in the industry, and protections if the hotel is sold or transferred to a different management company, to name a few.
Nearly 100 workers employed by ARAMARK at the Rocanville remote work site in southeastern Saskatchewan have joined UNITE HERE Local 47. The new UNITE HERE members provide food and accommodation services to construction and maintenance workers. They join over 3000 workers in remote sites in Alberta and Saskatchewan who are already represented by UNITE HERE Local 47. Welcome to UNITE HERE!
Welcome to the hundreds of airport workers in Los Angeles and Detroit who have recently joined UNITE HERE! On April 9th, 200 workers at LAX won union recognition from their employer, Areas USA. The victory came just days after the workers—some accompanied by their children—delegated Areas management at the airport, calling for respect and the right to organize.
And in Detroit, workers won recognition from Midfield Concessions, formerly one of the biggest remaining non-union food locations at the Detroit Metro Airport. Their victory comes on the heels of recent victories for HMS Host and LS Travel workers at the same airport. Congratulations!
PITTSBURGH – On April 11, for the first time at Rivers Casino Pittsburgh, casino workers marched on their management to deliver a declaration demanding respect on the job and a fair process to organize a union freely and without management intimidation or retaliation.
The workers at Pittsburgh’s only casino were joined by a coalition of elected officials, clergy, community organizations, and labor leaders from across the Greater Pittsburgh Region who warned casino management not to violate workers’ rights by attempting to intimidate, retaliate against, or interfere with them.
Rivers Casino was found guilty of violating federal labor law during a 2009 union organizing drive. The Vice President of Human Resources who illegally surveilled employees and banned the distribution of union materials remains in his position at the casino.
“I am standing here with my fellow coworkers to demand fairness and respect at Rivers Casino Pittsburgh,” said Rivers Casino Players’ Club Rep Dorothy Hall. “We want a fair process to organize for the opportunity to have careers in our community.”
Over $1 billion in gaming revenue has flowed through Rivers Casino since it opened in 2009. Rivers Casino is majority-owned by Walton Street Capital Real Estate Fund VI, a private equity real estate fund managed in Chicago.
“Rivers Casino broke its promise of good, family-sustaining jobs,” declared State Senator Jim Ferlo. “The Pittsburgh community has allowed Rivers Casino to thrive and today we are telling Rivers’ owners to stop standing in the way of working families.”
Community leaders joining workers at Rivers Casino today included State Senator Jim Ferlo, Allegheny County Council At-Large John DeFazio, Pittsburgh City Councilwoman Natalia Rudiak, Jack Shea (President, Allegheny County Labor Council), Joe Molinero (President, Teamsters Local 211), and The Rev. Walt Szymanski (Calvary Episcopal Church and Pennsylvania Interfaith Impact Network (PIIN)). Community organizations represented included Pennsylvania Interfaith Impact Network (PIIN) and Pittsburgh United.
We are three days into a five-day hunger strike that was called to save the jobs of nine immigrant workers at the Hilton Mission Valley. I, along with six others, have refused to eat since Friday morning. The nine workers we are supporting are set to be fired on Monday April 8th and Tuesday April 9th because after they tried to organize a union, Evolution Hospitality decided to use E-Verify. This is a program that checks immigrants’ documented status, a program that isn’t even mandatory with the federal government.
The nine workers who will be fired are immigrant women who have worked at the Hilton Mission Valley between 2 and 18 years. They are mothers who play a vital role in supporting their families, even though they make as little as $8.50 an hour and are unable to afford the company’s expensive family health insurance plan. I don’t know how they do it. Somehow, these women have been raising their families on so little.
This has been difficult. One of the other hunger strikers was so ill that he was rushed to the hospital yesterday. My friends and family have asked me why I would do something as extreme as not eat for five days. Nonetheless, I am striking because I believe firing hard-working people who are simply asking for respect and some dignity is unacceptable. My sacrifice pales in comparison to the sacrifice that many immigrant workers make just to take care of their families. Because of our broken immigration system, many people are permanently separated from family members in their home countries, they live in constant fear of apprehension and deportation, and they work for employers who do not deem them worthy of a living wage.
I am also willing to stand up for these workers because I know what it’s like to struggle and be denied value because of the work you do. My grandparents were farmworkers, my parents worked as farmworkers and later service sector workers, and I worked as a housekeeper for minimum wage while I made my way through college. Some of my earliest memories are of my mother trying to make a small piece of meat feed our whole family and of rolling pennies so that we could afford to buy each other presents for Christmas. Despite the fact that I admired my parents and grandparents for how hard they worked, for most of my childhood I also had to witness them do their best to make ends meet. In my family, it was a daily struggle. Just as the workers of the Hilton Mission Valley, we should not have had to struggle so much just for the chance at a decent life.
Heading into the fourth day of the hunger strike, I am feeling some uncertainty about the end results, but as I sit with the Hilton Mission Valley workers who are likely to be fired, I know that I’m not alone in this feeling. My hope is that we can start recognizing that all workers have dignity and that we give all people who do the work that runs our economy the means to a decent life.
Long Beach, Calif. (April 8, 2013) – Hyatt hotels in Long Beach, UNITE HERE Local 11, and Long Beach City Councilwoman, the Honorable Dr. Suja Lowenthal, today announced that associates at Hyatt Regency Long Beach and Hyatt The Pike Long Beach have elected to be represented by UNITE HERE Local 11.
All Hyatt associates who will be represented by UNITE HERE Local 11 in Long Beach were eligible to vote in the election, which was supervised by an independent election judge. The election judge verified the results last week, noting that a majority of Hyatt associates who were eligible to vote chose to have UNITE HERE represent them. Hyatt associates were notified last week of the election results.
"We’ve always maintained strong relations with our associates and unions representing Hyatt associates in other locations, and we’ve always believed Hyatt associates should have the right to choose union representation in an election," said Stephen D’Agostino, General Manager of Hyatt Regency Long Beach. "We look forward to working with UNITE HERE to reach a contract that will continue to support our associates and maintain our high workplace standards."
In November 2012, Long Beach voters approved Measure N, establishing a new minimum wage for hotel workers. The election paves the way for a better relationship between UNITE HERE Local 11 and Hyatt hotels in Long Beach. The election also marks an end to UNITE HERE’s boycott of Hyatt Regency Long Beach and Hyatt The Pike.
"We are very excited to welcome Hyatt Regency and Hyatt The Pike workers to UNITE HERE, a growing movement of housekeepers, cooks, bellman and others in the hospitality industry. On behalf of our new members, we are committed to negotiating the best contract we can that addresses wages, benefits and working conditions," said Ada Briceno, secretary-treasurer of UNITE HERE Local 11. "We look forward to sitting down together with Hyatt."
Several Long Beach councilmembers joined today’s announcement at City Hall, including Lowenthal, whose second district is home to both Hyatt properties.
"It’s rewarding to see that Measure N is already helping Long Beach’s tourism industry," said Dr. Lowenthal, who represents Long Beach City Council District 2. "Hyatt Regency Long Beach and Hyatt The Pike are important members of our community and anchors of the tourism industry in Long Beach. Measure N has allowed us to build a relationship between Hyatt hotels in Long Beach and UNITE HERE Local 11 that will benefit the hotels, workers, and the community going forward."
About Hyatt Regency Long Beach
Hyatt Regency Long Beach, located a quarter mile from Long Beach’s renowned six mile beach, offers 528 modern guest rooms, all with water views, including ten suites and ten Executive King accommodations. The property features 22,000 square feet of function and meeting space, and is wired with WiFi and high speed internet access. The hotel’s signature restaurant, Tides Poolside Restaurant, serves farm-to-table, seasonal continental cuisine. Additionally guests enjoy the hotel’s Perks Coffee Pantry for morning grab and go service, and its Lobby Lounge Bar for cocktails and light fare in the evenings. In-room dining, a heated outdoor pool and whirlpool, and complimentary Stay Fit Gym, round out the hotel’s amenities. For reservations or more information, call Hyatt Regency Long Beach at 562-491-1234 or visit www.longbeach.hyatt.com.
About Hyatt The Pike Long Beach
Hyatt The Pike Long Beach, located steps from all of Long Beach’s major attractions, offers 138 well-appointed rooms and suites styled with contemporary luxury furnishings, and offers boutique style amenities such as Italian coverlet linens and DEAN & DELUCA snacks. All rooms have custom lighting, MP3 docking stations, soothing sounds machines, in-room coffeemakers, flat panel televisions and roomy work stations with ergonomic chairs. The hotel’s signature restaurant, Bay Street Kitchen, offers farm-to-table menus, drawing from California’s seasonal and local produce. The Rooftop 360 lounge offers poolside seating and cabanas, live weekend entertainment, full bar, light fare and bottle service. Additionally, Hyatt The Pike features five distinct meeting and event rooms totaling 6,000 square feet. For more information or to book reservations at Hyatt The Pike Long Beach, call 562-432-1234 or visit www.thepikelongbeach.hyatt.com.
About UNITE HERE Local 11
UNITE HERE Local 11 represents 20,000 workers in hotels, restaurants, airports, sports arenas and convention centers in Southern California.
Five day hunger strike protesting E-Verify targeting of hotel employees begins Friday, April 5th
Hotel workers have spent the last year trying to organize a union at the Hilton Mission Valley and suddenly in late March when a new management company took over, the hotel began using E-verify.
Hotel managers told the nine employees they had until Monday, April 8 or Tuesday, April 9 to fix problems with paperwork or face termination. That’s why hotel workers, clergy and community activists are on the hunger strike. They are calling the hotel’s plan to fire the nine long-time hotel employees who the system flagged unfair.
"We can’t stand by as immigrant workers face firing after being subjected to the flawed and unfair E-Verify system." said Brigette Browning, President of UNITE HERE Local 30. "This hunger strike highlights that these workers and their families deserve the same opportunities to work and the same respect as all of San Diego’s working families, and the community stands with them and all immigrant workers who face unfair treatment."
So far the hunger strikers have received visits by Congressman Scott Peters, State Senator Ben Hueso, San Diego City Council President Todd Gloria, San Diego Labor Council Secretary-Treasurer Lorena Gonzalez, Reverend Beth Johnson from the Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice, and immigrant rights leader Christian Ramirez. Hunger strikers and threatened workers were also joined by incoming San Diego Unified School Superintendent Cindy Marten and SDUSD School Board members Richard Barrera and Marne Foster who wanted to stop by to lend their support.
And in Detroit, workers won recognition from Midfield Concessions, formerly one of the biggest remaining non-union food locations at the Detroit Metro Airport. Their victory comes on the heels of recent victories for HMS Host and LS Travel workers at the same airport. Congratulations!