Airport workers rally for good food, good jobs at SeaTac

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SeaTac Airport will completely rearrange its food and retail concessions in the coming years and UNITE HERE Local 8 food service workers have been active and involved in making sure their voices are heard in the planning process. Workers are calling on the Port Commission to take the lead in the fight against poverty at the Port.

To educate the public and a new Port Commissioner who will be appointed next month, more than one hundred people came together on January 28th to stand for a truly sustainable concessions program including good food, good jobs, and job security for airport workers.

Workers led a march through the airport and were joined by faith leaders, community groups, and unions representing other airport workers. The Port of Seattle heard our message: We need good food at the airport, but we also need respect and good jobs for our families.

Airport workers are excited about the opportunities this re-design of airport food service creates for improving the service and the quality of food we provide to the traveling public. Because we serve passengers every day, we have many ideas of how to make things better.

What’s next? A new Port Commissioner will be appointed in the next six weeks. Candidates will participate in a series of town hall meetings at the end of February. Stay tuned for details.

Victories in 2012

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All across the region, hospitality workers are standing up for a better life!

You helped build power for better wages and continued benefits in all our agreements negotiated in 2012, including the Edgewater Hotel, Hilton SeaTac and Doubletree SeaTac, the Washington Athletic Club, the Hilton Seattle, the Red Lion Olympia, Best Wester Executive Inn, the Best Western Loyal Inn, the Hilton Portland, and HMS HOST at SeaTac Airport and Spokane Airport.

Housekeepers in all our hotels with new contracts also gained safer workloads, dropping one or more rooms per shift, depending on the number of checkouts.

Workers at the Seattle Hilton were able to breathe easier knowing their jobs were protected even after the sale of their hotel. Other properties that won successorship in 2012 include: Red Lion Olympia, Best Western Executive Inn, Best Western Loyal Inn, Hilton SeaTac, Doubletree Seatac, and Hilton Portland.

This year saw great victories for stadium workers as well. For the first time ever, the food service workers at Safeco Field will have access to health insurance. Workers at Safeco stood up to management, rallied, and encouraged community leaders to sign an email petition for their health insurance. The future also looks bright for stadium workers who will work at the proposed basketball arena in Seattle, with an agreement to organize by card check.

Workers at the non-union Hyatt at Olive 8 publicly demanded a fair process to organize, without interference from management. A few months after the campaign began, Hyatt gave raises of between $1 and $3 per hour to non-tipped workers.

Despite continuing resistance to providing a fair process for the workers at the Hyatt at Olive 8, the Hyatt Corporation agreed to this process (card check neutrality) for a proposed hotel at the Portland Convention Center.

Making Waves at The Edgewater!

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Dozens of workers from the Edgewater Hotel, community allies, and Local 8 members from around the city marched in support of better wages, continued healthcare, job security and respect on the job.

Plus, for the first time ever, we took our message to the water! Worker justice ON A BOAT!

Together, we will continue to stand for the new union standard – living wages, continued benefits, respect, and job security.  The Westin has it, the Hilton has it, even the Best Westerns in Seattle have it. The Edgewater workers deserve the same standard!

Stay tuned for upcoming actions at the Edgewater!

Unite Here Local 8 Election Endorsements 2012

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Portland Mayor – Charlie Hales

WA Governor – Jay Inslee

WA Attorney General – Bob Ferguson

WA Secretary of State – Kathleen Drew

WA State Representative, 33rd District – Dave Upthegrove

WA State Representative, 34th – District Joe Fitzgibbon

WA State Senator, 11th District – Bob Hasegawa

WA Marriage Equality – Approve Referendum 74

For more information regarding races that Local 8 has not taken a position on, please check out endorsements by the Oregon Afl-Cio, the Washington State Labor Council, and the Martin Luther King County Labor Council.

Broad Coalition Of Labor Unions Enters Into Partnership With Arena Investors, Ensuring Good Jobs For Decades To Come

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SEATTLE – At a rally in Seattle’s stadium district, concessions workers, janitors, stagehands, arena operations workers and security officers declared their support today for the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding the proposed basketball arena, currently being considered by the Seattle City Council and the King County Council.

“The Sonics coming back would mean full-time work for me again,” says David Artemison, who currently works at Key Arena, Safeco Field, and Century Link Field, and used to work at Sonics games. “It means a chance at a better life for me and my coworkers.”

Before the Sonics left Seattle, hundreds of stadium workers made a living working at baseball  games in the summer and NBA games in the winter. They lost year-round employment and have been struggling ever since.

Workers were joined by Mayor Mike McGinn, King County Executive Dow Constantine and Seattle City Council member Mike O’Brien. King County Councilmember Joe McDermott sent a statement in support.

“This project is a groundbreaking private-public partnership, and we commend Mayor McGinn, King County Executive Constantine, City and County Council members, and Chris Hansen for their contributions to the MOU,” says Erik Van Rossum, President of UNITE HERE Local 8, the union representing food service workers at stadiums in Seattle.

“This is how economic development in Seattle should work” added Sergio Salinas, President of SEIU Local 6. “We worked together to create a win-win solution that lifts families out of poverty and rewards hard work. We believe the environmental and economic reviews built in to the current MOU will help protect Seattle taxpayers and the Port of Seattle from adverse impacts of the arena.”

Tracey Thompson, Principal Officer of Teamsters Local 117 remarked: “This partnership is a model for our region. It stands in stark contrast to the situation that service workers at the Airport and truck drivers at the seaport are dealing with. Hardworking port truck drivers and airport service workers struggle to make ends meet while working for shippers and contractors working at the seaport and airport who do not pay a living wage.

“If the arena moves forward,” says Artemison, “everybody will get their fair share. This is very exciting in these hard economic times.”

Solidarity Forever! WA and OR Come Together

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Exciting news about the future of our union!

Last week, hundreds of workers from UNITE HERE Local 8 and Local 9 voted to merge into one local. This means:

  • More solidarity throughout the Northwest, especially where there are common
    employers located in the Seattle and Portland areas;
  • Saving on administrative costs, so more resources are devoted to organizing;
  • More focus on regional issues that impact all of us; and
  • A stronger union!

The new local will be called UNITE HERE Local 8.