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"Check Out, Don't Check In": Unite Here Workers Boycott Embassy Suites
by
Danielle P. Williams, Philadelphia Student Union | 08.18.2008
Unite Here workers are orchestrating a boycott against having their jobs and rights revoked by Embassy Suites. Various workers, students, allies, and religious leaders gathered for a rally on Thursday, July 14, 2008. RELATED: Philadelphia Student Union II UNITE HERE!  In October of 2007, Embassy Suites “permanently replaced” thirty-one for honoring the picket line of another union and chose not to go to work. That same day, Embassy replaced its employees with interns from down south. These workers decided to take a stand. They contacted their union, Unite Here, and organized a boycott rally of Embassy Suites in December in an effort to have their jobs and rights returned. Although the official reason for replacement was the refusal to cross the picket line, other factors also came into play, such as contract negotiations. Gavina Girley, a former housekeeper, commented, “In October we were doing negotiations… They came in with an attitude. They didn’t want to give us anything from the beginning…Anything that we can do or have to do is try to make people understand why we did this, we’re going to do it.” Contract negotiations between Embassy Suites and its employees have been disputed since April 2007 and persisted into the new year, even after its employees were replaced. Protesters loudly chanted slogans including, “Check out! Don’t check in!” One former business agent stated, “It makes me angry because…when the company locks out its workers replaces them, a lot of them have children, a family. They’re single parents that are struggling to make ends meet. When a company does that it shows no remorse.” This boycott has attracted other organizations, such as, WRCP, a group that builds houses for low-income women, the Philadelphia Student Union, a student organization that focuses on improving schools and organizing, the Students for a Democratic Society, taxi drivers, Crown Plaza, Radisson Hotels, and the Hyatt. |
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Comments
"Check Out, Don't Check In"
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 08/26/2008 - 2:03pmYou should specify that the hotel in question is the Embassy Suites at the Philadelphia Airport.
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