Empress hotel workers vote overwhelmingly in support of job action

One of B.C.’s most famous hotels — Victoria’s Fairmont Empress — could soon face disruption due to potential job action.

The workers at the hotel held a strike vote Friday night. An overwhelming 97 per cent of members voted in favour of job action if negotiations with the employer, Bosa, do not go well, said the workers’ union, Unifor Local 4276.

No strike deadline has been set.

Unifor said the main issues are improving wages and better management of housekeeping workloads.

“What they really need to see is some reasonable workloads for the amount of time they’re allotted, and of course some fair pay to go with that,” said Gavin McGarrigle, Unifor’s western regional director.

“We don’t think that is too much to ask… and clearly, both the workers that have been at the Empress for 20, 30, 40 years and those hundreds who’ve been hired in the last year, all agree they need a fair contract now.”

Unifor Local 4276 represents more than 400 employees including housekeepers, kitchen staff and maintenance workers.

Global News has reached out to Bosa for comment.

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