Hyatt workers could strike before TIFF

Remember when Novotel workers walked off the job before hosting French delegates for the G20 summit? Well it looks like Toronto could be faced with another ill-timed hotel strike.

Workers at the Hyatt Regency on King Street, the hotel headquarters for the Toronto International Film Festival, may strike if negotiations fail to reach a deal by midnight tonight. TIFF is just one week away.

"The general impression we get is that Hyatt is basically trying to lock workers into a recession for four years even though the economy is starting to recover," JJ Fueser, a research analyst with the union UNITE HERE, told the Globe and Mail. "We want to make sure workers are sharing in that recovery."

Hyatt workers across the continent have been protesting staff cuts and reduced hours. "We really do want to reach a settlement," Fueser said. "But things look tough at the moment."