By Isaac Phan Nay | The Tyee
On Monday, Dulce Pereyras-Verma stepped out of a car onto the sunny sidewalk outside the Radisson Blu hotel near Vancouver’s Airport.
For three years, 10 months, two weeks and two days, the hotel guest services agent regularly picketed at the 3500 Cessna Drive hotel.
She’s stuck it out through sleet and snow during what her union claims was the longest strike in Canadian history. “It was really tough financially and emotionally.”
But on Monday, Pereyras-Verma was dressed for dinner out. She smiled as she said she’s excited to get back to the job she’s done for more than 20 years after members of Unite Here! Local 40 ratified agreements that ended the strike.
“Everything that’s happened from day one of walking out up to now, it’s all water under the bridge. Now, it’s time to start moving forward,” she said. “I’m just looking forward to my first day back.”
The strike began in 2021 when 143 hotel guest service workers — about 70 per cent of an approximately 200-member bargaining unit — were terminated as COVID-19 rocked the hospitality industry.
On Friday it ended as union members voted to ratify two collective agreements lasting until 2027, securing wage increases of about 31 per cent on average, as well as the right for the terminated workers to return to work at the Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport Hotel and Marina.
The union says the contracts set new standards for hotel workers in Metro Vancouver.
A spokesperson for hospitality company Choice Hotels, which owns the Radisson hotel brand, said in an email the hotel is an independently-owned and operated franchise.
Hotel management declined to comment.
Union spokesperson Michelle Travis said it was “relieved and very happy about the agreement.”
The hotel workers’ previous contract expired in 2018. Travis said the union and the employer — which was then called Pacific Gateway — were in the middle of negotiating when the pandemic hit.
Travis said negotiations broke down after the workers laid off during the pandemic were terminated in May 2021.
During the pandemic, the federal government booked the 400-room hotel to quarantine travellers, disrupting normal operations for nearly two years.
Operations at the hotel took another hit as the strike dragged on. The BC Federation of Labour and Richmond city council publicly boycotted the hotel over its position on bargaining.
In early 2023 ownership renovated the hotel, putting regular operations on hold even further, Travis said.
She said both parties came back to the table that August, and bargaining moved “very slowly” until this year.
Union members voted in favour of two new contracts last week — one lasting from 2018 to last June and another that expires at the end of 2027.
Travis said the vote hinged on significant wage increases and the right of all former Pacific Gateway workers terminated during the pandemic to return to work based on seniority, with their right of recall extending for 36 months.
Guest service agents like Pereyras-Verma earned a wage increase from $22.74 under the old agreement to up to $28.95 under the new one.
According to Work BC data, front desk clerk salaries range from $17.40 per to $28.50 across the province.
Under the new collective agreement, returning room attendants will make up to $28.25 per hour, above the provincial range of $17.40 to $25.28 per hour for light-duty cleaners.
Returning cooks will make an hourly wage of up to $32.50, above the provincial range of $17.40 to $25.
The contract also includes medical benefit improvements, personal days and the ability to have sick days that carry over between terms.
Workers now have stronger recall protections in the case of a pandemic, renovation or emergency.
Travis said wage increases and increased job protections at one hotel will set a new standard for hotel worker contracts across Metro Vancouver.
“The rising tide lifts all boats,” Travis said. “It ensures that there is a standard for hotel workers that provides family supporting wages and strong work protections and good working conditions.”
She said the hotel boycotts are over and hopes guests return to the hotel.
BC Federation of Labour president Sussanne Skidmore said the contract will set an industry standard in the province and may increase employee expectations when other hotels head into collective bargaining.
“The win of this collective agreement for these workers sends a message that workers are going to fight for what they’re entitled to,” she said.
Skidmore added she’s happy to hear the strike yielded a good deal for the hotel employees.
“These workers held the line and they held firm on what they needed at the table to get the collective agreement that they deserved,” she said.
University of Victoria law and employment relations professor Kenneth Thornicroft said since the pandemic, hospitality employers like restaurants and hotels have been struggling to hire enough workers — partly due to low wages.
“These are the expected labour market outcomes when people aren’t willing to work for the posted wage,” he said. “It wouldn’t surprise me if this becomes a benchmark for that particular sector.”
He added unions might also be pushing for worker compensation through improved benefits, pensions and other perks.
It’s not clear how many terminated workers will actually return to the hotel.
“One would assume at least some of the employees have found other work since then,” Thornicroft said. “I would be pretty surprised if every single person in the bargaining unit returned back to work.”
But for Pereyras-Verma, the new contract is a milestone.
“I’m just happy it’s come to an end,” she said, adding she’s ready to welcome guests back to the hotel.
“I’m proud that we’re now sort of a role model, because we raised the bar higher for all the hotel workers in this province — or at least in Metro Vancouver.”
