Vancouver hotel workers vote to strike

(CBC) - Workers in four of Vancouver's largest hotels have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a strike.

The 1,400 workers at the Hyatt, Westin Bayshore, Renaissance, and Four Seasons hotels are members of Unite Here Local 40 and have been without a contract since June.

Saying their employers aren't taking them seriously, they have voted 85 per cent in favour of hitting the picket lines. The vote gives union leaders the authority to call a strike if they feel negotiations with the employer aren't going well.

If the union delivered on the threat, it would be a blow to a city which is already suffering through a six-week-old strike by civic workers.

"I think we've met for 12 sessions up until now and we haven't received any offer whatsoever from the employers,'' said Randall Cooper, a banquet worker and member of the bargaining committee. "I think we've agreed on one very very minor bit of language and that is it."

The union wants higher wages and better benefits. They argue that the cost of living in Vancouver has skyrocketed in recent years, and that benefits and salaries have not kept up.

"I've worked 30 years in the business, and I am retiring in 13 days, and I'm only going to get $200 per month, so that's not a very good pension, is it?" said Carol Spence, who works at the Hyatt.

More talks are scheduled for mid-September.