Five Years at the Congress Hotel and Still Striking
June 4th, 2008Most downtown hotels negotiate contracts with union workers. Thanks to a 2002 citywide contract, service workers at these hotels earn nearly 14 dollars an hour, and receive benefits. But workers at the Congress Hotel make significantly less – only 8 dollars and 80 cents an hour. Five years ago, the Congress Hotel froze wages and slashed benefits. Employees have no healthcare, or job security. In 2003, workers walked off the job in protest and have been picketing in front of the Hotel since. Receiving increased support from UNITE HERE and other groups through out the years, strikers are still going strong. June 12 marks the 5th anniversary of their strike. On this episode of Community, Media and You, we’ll talk about the future of the strike with UNITE HERE’s communications and campaign coordinator, Annemarie Strassel, and two Hotel strikers, Efrain Cortina and Jose Sanchez.
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