City
Striking Toronto hotel workers stage demonstration
A few more chants and placards have been thrown into the downtown mix. Workers at the Novotel Toronto Centre hotel walked off the job this morning after negations broke down earlier this week. A French delegation is supposed to arrive at the hotel for the G20 summit today.
A picket line was formed at 6:30 a.m. as demonstrators chanted slogans, banged pots and pans, and blew vuvuzelas (connection to recent Italian World Cup upset still unknown).
At 7:30 a.m., a giant inflatable rat was brought out on the Esplanade, which is right by the G20 security fences. It may or may not be housing an undercover police officer. The striking workers began blocking cars at around 8:00 a.m. More police arrived at the scene shortly thereafter.
The striking workers are seeking better wages and job security. Supporters from other hotels are expected to join the 80 or so workers for a rally at 4:30 p.m.
Welcome to Toronto, French delegates!
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Honestly, though, this is an embarrassment. But unions always know the best time to strike. (Garbage, for example: The hot, stinky middle of summer.)
If my buddies created a human barricade preventing you from going to work everyday because we're not making a satisfactory amount, would you support me?
What exactly is the injustice here?
Frankly from all the news articles I've read it's all quotables that amount to 'wanting more'.
Hotel workers struggle to make ends meet with meager hourly wages while their employers demand more and more. Hotels want workers to clean more rooms than they did before while also making the job harder with larger, heavier mattresses, more towels and pillows, etc. It sounds like nothing but when you're assigned dozens of rooms a day and you're doing the heavy and/or repetitive tasks, it takes a serious toll on the body. As someone who works at a desk all day making twice or three times what a hotel worker makes, I'd be the first to admit I couldn't cut it in a hotel.
Like putting [international] students in limbo for my pay.
Like paralyzing city transit for my pay.
Like occupying highways for attention.
Like exploiting foreign dignitaries accomodations for my pay.
The list goes on.
Harsh judgement? You think the g20 and the timing of this strike was pure coincidence? If that doesn't scream opportunistic exploitation than you need to step back.
So youre telling me hotel management made a pre-planned long term coordinated effort across all 32 hotels involved in these negotiations to increase the workload on individual workers? I know a few companies
Well I'm no stranger to manual labour work (try dollies of frozen food and drinks instead of mattresses) and frankly I just got a new job. In fact most of my collegues quit because working conditions sucked. And this was after/because of unionizing.
This is a hotel that is not suffering from the great depression of the 2000's. In 2009 they opened 10 new hotels worldwide. In 2010 they plan to open 15 more.
http://www.accor.com/en/hotels/brand-portfolio/novotel.html
One last thing, unions aren't all the same. They don't all such money out of the company like CAW. Some are content with what the workers are making and only ask for wage increases at the rate of inflation.