Hotel workers in cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York have been gathering for training sessions recently on how to handle visits from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The sessions, organized by the labor union UNITE HERE, teach workers how to effectively stonewall ICE agents, emphasizing employees’ right to refuse to answer questions or show identification.
On July 31, our union sister TeeTee Dangerfield was senselessly murdered. TeeTee was a server at the Atlanta Airport, a very proud member of Local 23, and a trans woman. Her murder is being investigated as a potential hate crime.
We are horrified and saddened by TeeTee’s unconscionable murder, a crime that took away a shining star in her community, her workplace, and in her union. TeeTee was not only a skilled server whose warm and friendly service led some passengers to seek her out specifically when they flew out of or through ATL—she was also a leader in her union, seeking to become “the best shop steward our union had ever seen.”
While we mourn the fact that her life was taken so soon and so violently, we are also angry. Angry that transphobia and hate continue to manifest in our communities, where all individuals have the right to live their lives as whomever they are. TeeTee is the 16th known transgender person to be killed in the United States in 2017. This is an epidemic that can and must be stopped.
For our part, we will continue to fight for workplace protections for our LGBTQ sisters and brothers, which is but one piece of the larger movement to end the discrimination and violence often directed at the trans- and broader LGBTQ community. We will honor TeeTee’s memory by lending our collective strength and voices to say: Enough is enough! Not one more.
Justice for TeeTee. Rest in Power, sister.
Local 23 – Atlanta is partnering with Jobs with Justice Atlanta, the GA AFL-CIO, the Transgender Law Center, SONG, SNAPCO and members of the City of Atlanta, Pre-Arrest Diversion Program to organize two memorial events for TeeTee.
Friday – August 12, 2017 Community Memorial & Healing Cypher for TeeTee & Our Gurlz
7:00-10:00pm
The Blue House – 2861 East Point St, East Point, GA 30344 https://www.facebook.com/events/336147176797611/
UNITE HERE members from hotels across North America kick off next round of continent-wide contract negotiations, beginning in Toronto
(Toronto) Hundreds of hotel and hospitality workers kicked off contract negotiations at a rally in front of the Fairmont Royal York Hotel Thursday, June 22, followed by a march down Front Street to the Renaissance Toronto Downtown Hotel, where newly-unionized members are fighting for a first contract. The hotel workers, members of UNITE HERE Local 75, are busy preparing for their next round of contract negotiations, which will affect more than forty properties across the GTA.
The hotel workers were joined by fellow UNITE HERE union members from several other North American cities, who shared messages of solidarity and support as they enter into contract negotiations of their own. A decade ago, UNITE HERE launched Hotel Workers Rising, a continent-wide campaign to empower and improve the lives of hotel workers. Since then, tens of thousands of hotel workers have won improved wages and benefits, job security, and workload protections.
The march ended at the Renaissance Toronto Downtown Hotel in the Rogers Centre, where workers voted to join the union last year. Since then, they have been fighting for a first contract, refusing to settle for anything less than the same standard contract agreed to by dozens of other hotels across the city.
At UNITE HERE, we’re proud every day of our LGBTQ sisters and brothers who make up and lead our union, and we’re proud to continue our work as the premier labor union fighting for and winning civil and LGBTQ rights for our workers. It’s with pride that UNITE HERE has been a pioneer in securing equal protections for our LGBTQ brothers and sisters—protections that exist in places where no state or federal laws afford gay or trans Americans equal rights at work. We are proud that over 200,000 UNITE HERE members have contracts that prohibit employers from discriminating against workers based on their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. We’re proud to have had openly LGBTQ leaders serving our union at the national level, and we’re proud of the groundbreaking healthcare work we’ve done for our workers around HIV AIDS. This month, and every month, we have pride.
Join UNITE HERE at Pride 2017 celebrations throughout the US and Canada.
June 10, New Orleans, LA, Local 2262
June 10, Pittsburgh, PA, Local 57
June 11, Los Angeles, CA, Local 11
June 11, Indianapolis, IN, Local 23 Indy
June 11, Detroit, MI, Local 24
June 11, San Diego, CA, Local 30
June 16, Montana, Local 23 MT
June 18, Baltimore, MD, Local 7
June 18, Denver, CO, Local 23 Denver
June 18, Providence, RI, Local 26
June 18, Philadelphia, PA, Local 274
June 18, Portland, OR, Local 8
June 18, Anchorage , Local 878
June 19, Houston, TX, Local 23 Houston
June 20, New York, Local 100
June 24, St. Louis, MO, Local 74
June 25, Chicago, IL, Local 1
June 25, Minneapolis, MN, Local 17
June 25, San Francisco, CA, Local 2
June 25, Forest Park, Local 450
June 26, Seattle, WA, Local 8
July 02, San Antonio, TX, Local 23 SA
July 03, Toronto, Canada, Local 75
August 06, Vancouver, Canada, Local 40
August 27, Austin, TX, Local 23 SA
August 28, San Jose, CA, Local 19
September 11, Oakland, CA, Local 2850
October 14, Orlando, FL, Local 362
October 21, Las Vegas, NV, Local 226
October 21, Honolulu, HI, Local 5
International Workers’ Day Press Conference on the Status of Haitian Workers in South Florida and Renewal of Temporary Protected Status
MIAMI – Hospitality workers, members of UNITE HERE Local 355, Haitian Women of Miami (FANM), and allies are gathering in front of the Fontainebleau Resort (44th Street & Collins Avenue, Miami Beach) for a May Day press conference calling on the Trump Administration to renew the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) of over 50,000 Haitian nationals in the U.S.
The May Day press conference will take place on Monday, May 1st, 8am.
In light of the EEOC lawsuit filed against the SLS Hotel for the discriminatory firing of Haitian kitchen workers, we are calling on the hospitality industry to acknowledge the contribution made by Haitian workers in South Florida.
“I have been in the U.S. for 8 ½ years. TPS has allowed me to work legally and support my five children, two of which are still back home in Haiti. Immigrant workers like me are the engine of the hospitality industry in South Florida,” says Gerdine Verssagne, housekeeper at the Fontainebleau Resort on Miami Beach.
“Failure to renew TPS would not only break apart families and further devastate a country still recovering from natural disasters, but it would also negatively affect the hospitality industry in South Florida which depends on the labor of many Haitian workers currently on TPS,” says Rose Metellus-Denis, President of UNITE HERE Local 355. “We are calling on South Florida employers to urge President Trump to renew TPS.”
Speakers will include Marleine Bastien, (Executive Director of Haitian Women of Miami-FANM), Rose Metellus-Denis (President of UNITE HERE Local 355), and Miami Beach hotel workers.
UNITE HERE Local 355 represents 7,000 South Florida hospitality workers at hotels, casinos, airport food service, and Marlins Park.
On April 12, more than 100 workers and their allies marched to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington D.C. to demand pay equity for airline catering workers. The march anchored a series of actions nationwide, as workers from 16 airports rallied for dignity and equality. Watch the video:
“My work helps the airlines make so much money, yet I can barely scrape by. To me, that is not right. That is why my co-workers and I are coming together to demand one simple thing: equality.”
—Nelson Robinson, airline catering worker in Washington, D.C.
Thousands of subcontracted cafeteria workers, janitors, security officers, shuttle drivers, groundskeepers, and other service workers — predominantly immigrants, people of color, and women— are employed in Google offices across the U.S. They have acutely felt the Trump administration’s repeated attacks on them and their friends and families. For these individuals, calls to take action on May Day resonate with growing urgency.
As detailed in an April 13 BuzzFeed article, Google has supported its direct employees’ right to protest. Now, these tech workers are joining with low-wage subcontracted workers to call on industry leaders to protect all tech workers by taking strong positions against anti-immigrant and anti-worker federal policies.
In addition, delegations are taking place throughout the week of April 10 to Google offices across the U.S., including Boston, Atlanta, Ann Arbor, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, D.C.
On April 5, Space Needle workers who cook and serve food, run the elevators, and staff private banquet events ratified a new Union contract with their employer. The new contract received unanimous support from the bargaining committee and from all of the workers who turned out to the ratification vote, following a 5+ year campaign.
Highlights of the new agreement include enhanced job security; pension and a paid lunch break for the elevator operators; and $.50 raises per year for non-tipped workers.
“One of our biggest concerns with the previous offers was that they did not include enough job-security protections for our members,” said Erik Van Rossum, President of UNITE HERE Local 8. “This agreement includes strong job safeguards during the upcoming Century Project renovations. And with this agreement, our members won’t have to worry about construction length impacting their rights to return to their jobs.”
On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated while standing with striking sanitation workers. 49 years later, airport food workers in Philadelphia joined faith leaders, community groups and other workers to honor King’s struggle and rally for economic and racial justice.
In Philadelphia, workers who cater flights for American Airlines and other carriers are paid $4.20 less per hour than the airport living wage, amounting to annual losses of more than $8,700 for full-time employees.
Sky Chefs worker Avery Austin addressed the crowd, which numbered in the hundreds. “Everybody here is ready to fight. Nobody is backing down. Nobody is scared. All we want is equal rights.”
Following the rally, airline and airport food workers led a march through the streets around City Hall, chanting, “If we don’t get it? Shut it down!” and “Treat your workers with respect!” At the end of the march, attendees flowed into the Arch Street United Methodist Church for a teach-in about the intersections of racial and economic justice.
“We have to understand that they are scared because we are waking up. They thought we’re asleep, but we are not. We are not scared—we are ready.”
SILVER SPRING, Maryland – Union, immigration and religious leaders are honoring D. Taylor, president of the UNITE HERE labor union, for his commitment to immigrant workers at a reception March 23 at the Friars Club in New York.
The fundraising event will benefit the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., known as CLINIC.
“D Taylor represents tens of thousands of immigrant and first generation American hotel and hospitality workers among UNITE HERE’s 250,000 members in the U.S. and Canada,” said event host Vincent Pitta, of the New York law firm Pitta LLP. “His commitment, and that of his UNITE HERE colleagues, to better the wages, hours and working conditions of those immigrant workers, and his personal and his union’s generosity, goes hand in hand with CLINIC’s critically important mission and its critically important place in our society, especially so at this time in our country’s history. We salute our fellow CLINIC board member and congratulate him on the recognition he so justly deserves.”
In a statement of appreciation for the recognition, Mr. Taylor made note of the joint work of his organization and CLINIC.
“CLINIC is an amazing organization that has provided extraordinary service for thousands of immigrant and refugee families since its founding by Catholic bishops decades ago,” he said. “From helping immigrants detained at the borders to empowering workers to become citizens, UNITE HERE and CLINIC have proudly joined hands to help those in need and build a more just society. I am humbled and honored to be recognized by an organization that has done so much good work for so many people, and I look forward to partnering with CLINIC in the years ahead.”
Jeanne Atkinson, executive director of CLINIC, said the event is a welcomed cause for celebration, particularly with one CLINIC board member, Mr. Pitta, hosting this opportunity to recognize the work of another, Mr. Taylor.
“This is a wonderful time to acknowledge and celebrate the great work UNITE HERE and D. Taylor have long done on behalf of immigrant workers,” Ms. Atkinson said. “We are extremely grateful for the chance to thank Mr. Taylor for his commitment protecting immigrants from all walks of life.”
“In the summer of 2014, D called wanting to know what CLINIC was doing about large numbers of Central American children then coming across the border,” Ms. Atkinson added. “More importantly, he asked what he and UNITE HERE could do to support the unaccompanied children who were being picked up. Under D’s leadership, UNITE HERE has been a partner in our efforts to serve the children and the families, devoting both time and financial resources to the efforts, since that call.”
Press interested in covering the event or in further comment from Mr. Pitta, Mr. Taylor or Ms. Atkinson, should contact CLINIC Communications Director Pat Zapor at 301-537-6512 or via email at [email protected].
Hotel workers in cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York have been gathering for training sessions recently on how to handle visits from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The sessions, organized by the labor union UNITE HERE, teach workers how to effectively stonewall ICE agents, emphasizing employees’ right to refuse to answer questions or show identification.
Thousands of subcontracted cafeteria workers, janitors, security officers, shuttle drivers, groundskeepers, and other service workers — predominantly immigrants, people of color, and women— are employed in Google offices across the U.S. They have acutely felt the Trump administration’s repeated attacks on them and their friends and families. For these individuals, calls to take action on May Day resonate with growing urgency.
