Union Calls On Boston Hotels To Rehire All Workers By March 22

Boston MA

19 March, 2021

11:46 AM

Description

BOSTON — A union representing workers in the hospitality industry is calling on Boston hotels who laid off workers during the pandemic to rehire them before the state moves into Phase 4 of its reopening plan on March 22. UNITE HERE Local 26 said in a release that a string of firings at Boston hotels left 700 hotel workers in the Greater Boston area without jobs, and 8,000 more hotel workers are unemployed. "The 'new normal' cannot leave working families in hospitality behind," said Carlos Aramayo, the president of UNITE HERE, in a news release. "If Massachusetts is open for business, the hotel workers that have served this city for decades need to be back in business too." The union set up a website, Boston Travel Alert, where hotels can pledge to rehire all of their workers on March 22. The "Hotel Recall Pledge" asks hotels to promise the following: On behalf of our hotel, I affirm our commitment to a recovery that does not leave Massachusetts hospitality workers behind. We commit to the public and to our laid-off employees that we will adhere to the following:– We will offer a return to work to our employees who were laid off as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic as business need allows;– We will respect our employees' years of service by making such offers of return to work in order of seniority;– We will make offers of return to work to all laid-off employees before any outside hires are made, provided that the laid-off employees are qualified for the positions available;– We will remain committed to the process above until all employees have returned to work or thirty (30) months have passed since the date of pandemic-related layoffUNITE HERE is keeping a list of hotels that have publicly announced they will recall their employees, and a list of those that have not. The Marriott Copley — which laid off half of its staff in the fall of last year, according to The Boston Globe — is among the list of hotels that has not promised to recall workers. "I've given my life to this hotel and they used this crisis to fire me," said Beatriz Torres, who has worked at the Marriott Copley for 23 years as a conscience attendant, in the release. "At my age, how can I find another job to hire me?"