One person was sent to hospital Saturday after a bus ran over their foot in front of a protest at the Hilton Metrotown hotel.
The protest is by locked-out and laid-off Hilton workers as part of a long labour dispute.
A news release from UNITE HERE Local 40, which represents the workers, says that at around 2:30 p.m. a bus carrying Lufthansa airline crews injured a protester at the Hilton Metrotown workers' picket line.
The union says flight crews have been crossing the picket line repeatedly to stay at the hotel. Union members staged a protest earlier this week at Vancouver International Airport to tell the flight crews to not stay at the hotel during the labour dispute.
“Workers and community allies holding the picket line were stepping back as the bus kept going and ultimately the bus hit one of the protesters and injured their foot,” said the union.
Police arrived and released a statement to the NOW indicating that there will be no charges pursued.
"The injured demonstrator was transported to hospital by EHS and there were no further issues at the hotel," said the statement. "There is no indication of intent by the bus driver and there is no criminality in the incident. Police will be following up with the injured party."
Earlier this week, workers locked out by the Hilton Metrotown hotel have written to WorkSafeBC demanding it be shut down, claiming there aren’t enough people to safely clean the 283-room facility.
Zailda Chan, president of UNITE HERE Local 40, wrote the letter after workers were locked out April 15 in a labour dispute stemming from many workers previously losing their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic – a move they called “mass firings.”
“We are calling on WorkSafeBC to shut down the Hilton Metrotown hotel as it poses a health and safety danger to the public,” the letter says. “We were shocked that the Hilton did not close its doors upon locking out the staff. As a 283-room hotel with only 13 permissible managers able to work, it is simply impossible for the hotel to maintain its rigorous COVID safety plan. Furthermore, the large majority of the experienced and well-trained hotel cleaning staff are involved in the labour dispute and not at work.”
The union also says that international flight crews stay at the hotel, posing a further risk if rooms and other hotel areas are not cleaned properly.
