Atira's Downtown Eastside hotel workers join BCGEU

VANCOUVER, Oct. 22 /CNW/ - Workers at 17 hotels serving the Vancouver Downtown Eastside managed by Atira Property Management voted overwhelmingly in favour of joining the B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union (BCGEU) on Wednesday, October 20.

Approximately 179 employees of Atira Property Management, working in hotels as desk clerks, building service workers and support workers, voted 70% in favour of joining BCGEU to better deal with issues of fairness, health and safety, wages and benefits at their workplaces.

"Workers in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside do important work under challenging working conditions and they deserve the respect and fairness that a union provides," says BCGEU president Darryl Walker.

The next step for Atira workers is to form a negotiating committee, develop bargaining proposals and then begin talks with their employer for a first contract.

"We are pleased that Atira employees chose BCGEU to represent them in getting a contract that offers better wages and benefits as well as health and safety measures that will provide them with improved security and confidence in the work that they do," says Walker.

Atira Property Management manages 17 single-occupancy hotels in the Vancouver Downtown Eastside including: Abbott Mansion, Arco Hotel, Carl Rooms, Cordova Rooms, Cosmopolitan Hotel, Dominion Hotel, Drake Hotel, Dunsmuir Hotel, Gastown Hotel, Hazelwood Hotel, Heatley Block, Park Hotel, London Hotel, Marble Arch, Savoy Hotel, St. Helen's Hotel and 566 Powell St. Hotel.

BCGEU represents 65,000 members in the public and private sectors, including other services in the Downtown Eastside such as the Downtown Eastside Women's Centre and the Salvation Army Vancouver Harbour Light.

For further information:

Erin Sikora, BCGEU Communications [phone] (cell)