Laid-off workers are urging Burnaby’s four BC NDP MLAs to protect the jobs of 50,000 hotel workers across B.C.
A delegation of area hotel workers delivered a message on Thursday asking MLAs Janet Routledge, Anne Kang, Katrina Chen and Raj Chouhan to “do more for workers laid-off due to the pandemic,” said a news release from Unite Here Local 40, a union for hotel and hospitality workers.
The union has launched a petition calling on B.C. Tourism Minister Lisa Beare to “protect hotel workers’ jobs.” The petition has gathered almost 700 signatures so far.
Zailda Chan, UNITE HERE Local 40 President, states:
“Government asked 50,000 hotel workers to stay home to protect public health,” said union president Zailda Chan. “Now will the government help workers get their jobs back? The province is letting business delay severance payouts, but that doesn’t protect workers at all. We need a guarantee from our elected officials that workers have a right to go back to their jobs when it is time to return.”
The province recently extended temporary layoff provisions, which allowed business to delay severance payouts, the union says.
