October 13, 2009
Union asks members to stay home from dead-beat employer
Howard Johnson employees have been working for free
and company refuses to pay.
UFCW Local 832 members working at the Howard Johnson Hotel at 1740 Ellice Avenue are so fed up with their bounced pay cheques and non-funded employer-paid benefits that the union has recommended to its members that it would be best if they looked for work somewhere the employer pays for the work that they do. The members have been without a collective agreement for since October 31, 2008.
“After dealing with this dead-beat company for the last 18 months after exhausting our efforts of going through the grievance and arbitration process along with making a formal complaint to the Winnipeg Police for theft, I’m promising members working at the Howard Johnson that the union will work with them in finding new employment,” said UFCW Local 832 President Robert Ziegler.
The Howard Johnson Hotel is owned by David Grewal of West One Enterprises located in Vancouver, British Columbia and has been delinquent in submitting union dues that they’ve collected from the workers along with not paying into the Education and Training Fund or Dental benefits resulting in the members not having access to these benefits.
“We’ve filed a complaint with the Winnipeg Police in May on the basis of theft. The company has continued to deduct union dues from the members and not submitted them to the union since November 2008. These members are entitled to their wages and dental benefits that we have negotiated for them, plain and simple” said Ziegler.
The union has contacted Howard Johnson this summer to see if they are aware of the issues the union has faced and to let them know how Grewal is damaging their brand. The company thanked the union for their letter of concern and deflected it back to Grewal.
“I think it’s appalling that an internationally recognized company such as Howard Johnson could allow someone to run a hotel carrying their signage in such a way. These remaining 25 people for some reason have stayed loyal to the company hearing a string of broken promises. I’m committed to work with these remaining members to help find them work at reputable union shops who pay their employees when they say they will,” stated Ziegler.
This isn’t the first time that Grewal has run afoul with his hotels. In March 2007 the Piccadilly Pub and Hotel at 620 West Pender, Vancouver was ordered closed and he was fined after being found guilty of 31 counts of contravening building maintenance and fire safety regulations.
