MONTREAL – The United Steelworkers union (USW) has launched a Canada-wide campaign to raise awareness among customers of the InnVest Group hotel chain regarding the treatment of women embroiled in a 10-month strike over low wages.
The campaign is supporting workers, mostly women, at InnVest’s Comfort Inn hotel in Baie-Comeau, Que., who have been on strike since March 22 of last year, to obtain a decent, living wage.
Dozens of USW members have been distributing leaflets at some 40 InnVest hotels across the country to make customers aware of the Quebec workers’ struggle. Hotel customers are encouraged to send an email supporting the workers to InnVest Group executives and management of the group’s various hotels in Canada.
“When we go to a hotel, we all want to know that the people who ensure our comfort are treated with dignity. As hotel customers know very well, room rates have gone up significantly. But the wages of those who provide customer comfort are not keeping pace,” said Dominic Lemieux, Quebec Director of the USW/Syndicat des Métallos.
“We’re appealing to the compassion of InnVest customers to ask this company to come back to the bargaining table and treat its employees with dignity,” said Lemieux.
“Most of these workers are women, some of whom have worked at the hotel for over 20 years. Yet they are paid only $16.22 an hour – well below a decent, living wage, especially in Baie-Comeau where the cost of living is higher than in much of Quebec,” states the USW leaflet being distributed to InnVest hotel customers across the country.
“InnVest must return to the negotiating table and treat its workers better! We are appealing to your sense of fairness and asking for your support. The people who ensure your comfort and that of all InnVest Hotels customers deserve a decent wage,” adds the leaflet, which hotel customers have found at the doors of their rooms or on the windshields of their vehicles.
The striking workers in Baie-Comeau are members of USW/Syndicat des Métallos Local 7065.
The USW/Syndicat des Métallos, affiliated to the Quebec Federation of Labour, is the largest private-sector union in Quebec, representing more than 60,000 workers in all sectors of the economy.
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