Vancouver Coun. Swanson fasts to support B.C. hotel workers’ hunger strike
Posted August 12, 2020 11:58 am.
Last Updated August 12, 2020 12:43 pm.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — A Vancouver city councillor is joining the B.C. hotel workers in a hunger strike.
Long-time advocate for the homeless, Coun. Jean Swanson says she is fasting Wednesday to support the laid-off workers asking the province to protect jobs that were lost because of the pandemic.
BREAKING: On Day 3 of hotel workers’ hunger strike Vancouver City Councillor @JeanSwanson_ is fasting TODAY outside office of NDP MLA @SChandraHerbert to highlight crisis facing BC’s 50,000 hotel workers https://t.co/Pf09E0tSNB #bcpoli #cdnpoli #Fast4OurJobs pic.twitter.com/hCd8uXmOcg
— Unite Here Local 40 (@UniteHere40) August 12, 2020
“I am just doing it for a day. They are doing it for way longer,” she says. “But it’s just to show solidarity with them and that I think this is a very important issue. We are all learning with COVID that some workers are treated as disposable and they shouldn’t be.”
“They want the government to implement a simple regulation that would allow them to return to their jobs at the same wages and working conditions after the pandemic is over,” Swanson adds.
RELATED: B.C. hotel workers hold hunger strike in Victoria for job security amid COVID-19
UNITE HERE Local 40 says about 50,000 hotel staff will see an extension to temporary layoffs run out at end this month, meaning the next step could be permanent job loss. They are concerned employers will use the pandemic as an excuse to get rid of senior staff with high wages and benefits to bring in lower-paid workers.
“The government could make a simple little change to the Employment Standards Act and it could protect their jobs. That’s all they are asking for. It won’t cost anything. It’s a simple thing to do,” Swanson says.
The province has an employment lawyer looking at what is possible considering collective agreements between hotels and staff.
On Monday, Stephanie Fung with UNITE HERE Local 40 said only 10 to 15 per cent of laid-off workers have been brought back to work.
