Facing the loss of health care and pension benefits, workers at the Hotel Blake voted unanimously this evening to authorize a strike. The vote was 18 to 0 out of a total unit of 21 union workers at the property.
According to the Union, the hotel's management, Printer's Row, LLC, has been delinquent for several months in payments to the union's welfare and pension funds. In 2006, the HEREIU Welfare Fund sued to collect, and a settlement agreement was reached in May 2007. But the hotel failed to make the required payments per the settlement agreement, and stopped making further required fund contributions. The hotel now owes over $200,000, and the case has been re-opened in federal court.
The Union reports that workers are in danger of losing their health care and pension benefits at the end of the month if the payments are not made. Marcella Mason, a housekeeper at the Hotel Blake, said 'Now we've got the power. We'll show them they have to take us seriously. We don't want to strike, but they've got to pay their bills. They're messing with our lives.'
A strike can be called at the hotel without any further notification of the employer.
Hotel Blake is located at 500 S. Dearborn in Chicago's Printer's Row neighborhood. UNITE HERE Local 1 represents over 14,000 hotel, foodservice and gaming workers in the Chicago area.
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