Hilton Hotel Employees In Downtown Calgary Vote On Union Negotiated Contract!
President Thomas Hesse with front desk members at the Calgary downtown Hilton Hotel.
Deal has a $4 per hour wage increase over 26 months and a brand-new benefit plan
Today and tomorrow, employees from the Hilton Hotel/Homewood Suites in Calgary’s upscale East Village are voting on a new union contract. The contract is “recommended.”
What is a union recommendation?
In many circumstances and particularly in the current economy, it is rare that we advise our members that a contract offer is acceptable. It is particularly unusual to tell employees that a contract offer is good. Often, we will provide analysis to union members and ask them to weigh the pros and cons of the contract.
Employees are struggling with an affordability crisis. To say that a contract is recommended in this environment requires that it clearly meets the reasonable economic expectations of union members and is clearly preferable to strike action.
$4 per hour raise
“This contract gives employees an immediate $1.25 per hour wage increase and another $0.75 per hour on January 1, 2025,” says Secretary Treasurer Richelle Stewart. “That’s essentially an immediate $2 per hour raise, and it’s retroactive.”
There are two more wage increases of $1 per hour each. The $4 per hour raise is spread over only 26 months.
“Those are the kinds of increases we are aiming to achieve for all of our members,” added Stewart.
There is also a brand-new benefit plan with special dental coverage for both part-time and full-time employees which is largely unheard of in the hotel industry.
President Thomas Hesse with the worker-led Bargaining Committee at the downtown Calgary Hilton Hotel.
There is sometimes a sense that unions “tell” members what to do with contract offers. That is not the case at UFCW Local 401.
“Under our leadership, telling union members how to vote has not and will not ever happen,” says President Thomas Hesse. “Leadership requires that we give our members responsible advice. But it also requires that our union utilizes democratic processes to respect the decisions and will of union members.”
“Whether a contract is acceptable or good or not is a decision that belongs to union members,” added Hesse. “Whether a strike is appropriate or not is a decision for union members.”
Awaiting the outcome
Voting for Hilton employees is taking place in person today and will continue online tomorrow. We will await the outcome.
Congratulations are due to our worker-led Bargaining Committee, Union Negotiator Jeff Ible, and union members who work at the hotel. They were not afraid to face the employer head-on, threatening a strike and joining the UFCW National Defense Fund to advance and augment strike benefits in the event that a strike took place.
It would seem that the owner of the hotel got the message.
$3 per hour for EVERYONE!
It’s important to know that Local 401 has asked every employer with whom we deal to provide all employees with a $3 per hour circuit breaker affordability crisis wage increase.
Just like pandemic pay, union contracts allow for such increases, and Local 401 is demanding them! If you haven’t received such an increase, it is because your employer has refused to give it to you.
Posted on: November 18,2024