The Stand, OLYMPIA (Feb. 1) — Some 1,500 people are employed as concessions workers at SeaTac International Airport. Many of them are union members. That means the folks who greet and serve our area’s travelers can afford to put food on their own tables, pay their rent and mortgages, provide health insurance coverage to their families, and retire in dignity. Read more...
February 1, 2012
Good news for Washington hospitality workers! Five bills attempting to lower and weaken the minimum wage in Washington failed to meet a legislative deadline and died in committee this morning. To read more, click here.
“Three bills in the state legislature, all sponsored by Republican Rep. Cary Condotta (R-12) would collectively result in a lower state minimum wage. […] House Bill 2497 would allow employers to pay workers who receive tips wages as low as $7.25 an hour, the current federal minimum.” (Source: Publicola) This could mean a pay cut of almost two dollars for many hospitality workers in our state. Help us defeat this proposal to cut wages at the worst possible time, in the midst of an economic crisis for working families. Here’s what you can do:
Public Hearing on Tuesday, January 31st in Olympia
Come to the Public Hearing in Olympia to testify against House Bill 2497 on Tuesday, January 31st at 10am
Call your State Representative on the Labor Committee
Call your State Representative on the House Labor Committee. For a list of phone numbers and email addresses, click here: http://www.leg.wa.gov/House/Committees/LWD/Pages/MembersStaff.aspx
Like us on Facebook to stay connected and get updates on the issue
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January 24, 2011
50 UNITE HERE Local 8 members working at SeaTac Airport were joined today by retail workers, janitors, passenger service workers and supporters from the labor and faith community to send a strong message to the Port of Seattle that they will not sit by while the Port puts their jobs at risk.
To develop a concessions program at the airport that benefits workers, businesses and the Port of Seattle alike, a balanced approach is needed. Airport workers are proposing a sustainable concessions model that creates quality jobs allowing families to thrive while businesses are successful and the Port of Seattle’s financial interests are protected.
Unfortunately, the Port of Seattle has been unwilling to make any meaningful movement on the issue of workforce stability and job security for airport workers in the past year. Instead, hospitality, retail and janitorial workers were shocked to find out that the Port Commission had hired anti-union attorney Mark Hutcheson as outside legal counsel to advise them on the future of workers at SeaTac Airport.
We are proud to have UFCW Local 21, SEIU Local 6, Faith Action Network, Teamsters Locals 117 & 174, the Martin Luther King County Labor Council, the King County Building Trades Council, Puget Sound Sage and Working Washington and many others stand with us in solidarity fighting for the future of our community at SeaTac Airport.
UNITE HERE Local 8 members have been in negotiations with the Edgewater, the Space Needle and the Seattle Hilton for many months. At all three places, the workers are fighting for their job security, and their union. In this economic climate, workers need to know they can’t be thrown under the bus at any moment. Our struggle is more than a series of contract negotiations, it is a vision for Seattle tourism that includes a middle class life for local workers. It is a city-wide fight, with many battles.
You can help. Here’s how:
Join Edgewater workers as they rally in front of their own hotel to demand a fair contract that includes job security.
Edgewater Hotel (Alaskan Way and Wall Street)
4pm to 5pm
*
Seattle Hilton Boycott Support!Join us for daily pickets highlighting the ongoing boycott of the Seattle Hilton.
6th Avenue and University Street
Fridays: 4:00pm to 5:0pm
Most Other Days: 7am to 8am
*Dates and times may vary. Contact Anita Nath [email protected] for more details!
Plus: Check out our community delegation video to the Hilton Seattle owner, the R.C. Hedreen Company!
And Stay Tuned for more actions!
The Hilton Seattle is entertaining prospective buyers right now, and union workers are in danger of being replaced with poverty-wage jobs.
Monday, January 16th at 3pm (After the MLK Day March)
Hilton Seattle, 6th and University
“To end humiliation was a start, but to end poverty is a bigger task.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
Join us to send a message to the Seattle Hilton and the R.C. Hedreen Company that Seattle won’t stand for the erosion of middle class jobs, and honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s revolutionary spirit.
BACKGROUND
Since October 20th, the Seattle Hilton has been under BOYCOTT until they agree to protect workers’ jobs when the hotel is sold.
The sale of the Hilton Seattle is now imminent. The R.C. Hedreen Company (which owns the Hilton Seattle) stands to make an enormous profit on the backs of their workers who have dedicated their lives to the hotel. Most of them are people of color, immigrants, and women who could be left out in the cold.
“We could be fired any day when the hotel is sold, and replaced with minimum-wage workers,” says Chuck Cruise, a second-generation bellman at the Seattle Hilton with over 20 years experience. “They have the power to save our jobs as a condition of sale, all we’re asking is that they use that power to take care of their workers. We’ve given them years of loyal service.”
Join us on Monday to send a message to the Seattle Hilton and the R.C. Hedreen Company that Seattle won’t stand for the erosion of middle class jobs, and honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s revolutionary spirit.
Dr. King considered the growth of unions as central to the advancement of civil rights in the United States. His “Poor People’s Campaign” focused on economic injustice faced by all working people. “To end humiliation was a start,” he declared, “but to end poverty is a bigger task.” Dr. King partnered with labor unions to advance living wage jobs and dignity at the workplace, and ultimately lost his life during the Memphis sanitation workers’ strike in 1968. We honor Dr. King’s memory by learning about and supporting labor struggles today.
See you Monday at 3pm!