Northern Virginia Update

Fed up with layoffs and pay cuts, hotel workers boycott 8 Columbia Sussex hotels

Hotel workers and supporters march in front of the Hilton Crystal City in Northern Virginia.

March 25, 2010

Hotel workers say "Stop making us pay for your debts!"

Hotel workers are telling Columbia Sussex Corporation that they are tired of paying for the company's debt and want a fair process to organize a union at rallies around the country, and they are calling on customers to boycott 8 hotels owned by the company.

In the past few years, hotel workers at 4 union hotels owned and operated by Columbia Sussex - Baltimore Sheraton City Center in Maryland, Hilton Crystal City in Northern Virginia, Anchorage Hilton in Alaska and Hilton Sacramento West in California - have faced a variety of cuts, including layoffs, benefit reductions, pay freezes, higher costs for health insurance, and/or work speed-ups in the wake of their hotel's acquisition by Columbia Sussex. These four hotels are already subject to boycotts, and today, March 25, UNITE HERE is calling on customers to boycott 4 additional non-union, Columbia Sussex hotels in support of its call for a fair process for workers at these hotels to decide whether or not to unionize. They are: Westin Washington DC City Center, Westin Emerald Plaza San Diego, Wyndham Chicago and Westin Chicago Northwest.

Mary Lee Hinant, a Baltimore Sheraton laundry worker for 34 years, said: "Ever since banks lent all that money to Columbia Sussex to buy my hotel, my paycheck is smaller, I don't qualify for health insurance anymore, and my co-workers are laid off."

"I don't know who's to blame: Columbia Sussex, the banks, or both. But I'm tired of being squeezed every which way in their cost cutting," says Vickie Castro, a housekeeping office clerk for 23 years at the Anchorage Hilton.

Click here to read more.

 

Read past updates:	See updates from other cities: Select a Location Anchorage Boston Chicago Honolulu Indianapolis Long Beach Los Angeles Monterey Minneapolis Northern Virginia Pittsburgh Providence San Antonio San Diego San Francisco Toronto Vancouver Washington DC
Toronto's Royal York Hotel Workers Vote to Strike Toronto's Local 75 Members March to the Hyatt Regency Workers Strike Hyatt Regency Century Plaza as contract negotiations stall Hyatt workers strike at Hyatt O'Hare Hyatt Regency Waikiki employees strike for a day over new contract Read All