Hello. I would like to thank the committee for inviting us here today.
My name is Michelle Travis, and I'm the research director for UNITE HERE Local 40, the hospitality workers' union.
COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on the hotel workers who were put out of work by the pandemic. Nowhere is this more true than at the Pacific Gateway Hotel, which was taken over by the federal government under the Quarantine Act last year.
Shortly, you will hear from two workers who have been directly impacted by the takeover and are calling for government action.
The government is spending untold amounts of public money on a hotel that recently fired over 140 long-term workers, mostly women. There is no transparency on the terms of the federal takeover or how long it will last.. We have asked for a copy of the agreement between the government and the hotel, but the hotel says there is no contract.
Hard-hit workers deserve to know why the government repeatedly extends its time at, and subsidizes, a hotel that takes advantage of the pandemic to fire much of its staff. Workers should be allowed to return to their jobs as travel restrictions ease. Every day the government subsidizes this hotel more workers risk losing their jobs.
We are urging the government to state its end date at Pacific Gateway, share a copy of their agreement and to please move to another site.
Now I would like for you to hear from Elisa and Kiran.
Elisa.