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Hotel Workers and Creative Destruction in North American Trade Unions

Hotel Workers and Creative Destruction in North American Trade Unions. Steven Tufts, Department of Geography, York University Paper Presented at the New Zealand Tourism Research Institute Auckland University of Technology February 4, 2011.

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Hotel Workers and Creative Destruction in North American Trade Unions

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  1. Hotel Workers and Creative Destruction in North American Trade Unions Steven Tufts, Department of Geography, York University Paper Presented at the New Zealand Tourism Research Institute Auckland University of Technology February 4, 2011

  2. Canadian union membershipSource: Krahn and Lowe 2002 p354

  3. Union Density in Canada by Selected Sector, 2009 Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey

  4. Profile of selected tourism-related sectoral employment by employee characteristics, Canada, 2006 Sources: Statistics Canada 2010 Human Resource Module of the Tourism Satellite Account, Update to 2006 Catalogue no. 13-604-M — No. 059 Income and Expenditure Accounts Technical Series http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/13-604-m/13-604-m2008059-eng.pdf CTHRC 2009 Who’s Working for You? A demographic profile of tourism sector employees, CTHRC: Ottawa, Accessed last on August 2, 2010 a. Census Data does not include unionization data. This data is taken from the Labour Force Survey.

  5. Tourism related sector employment in Canada, 1997-2006, (thousands) Source: Statistics Canada 2010 Human Resource Module of the Tourism Satellite Account, Update to 2006 Catalogue no. 13-604-M — No. 059 Income and Expenditure Accounts Technical Series http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/13-604-m/13-604-m2008059-eng.pdf

  6. Forecast of Labour Demand 2025 Source: Canadian Tourism  Human Resources Council.  June 2008. The future of Canada's tourism sector: long on prospects...short on people. Ottawa: The Council.   Available at http://www.otec.org/PDF/Supply-Demand%20Compilation%20Report_ENG.pdf Accessed on June 25, 2009

  7. Manufacturing as % of All Employment in Canada, 2005 - 2009 The Canadian economy lost over 350,000 manufacturing jobs between 2005-2009 Manufacturing is now 10% of employment

  8. Labour force survey estimates (LFS), employment in Toronto census metropolitan area by North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), 3-month moving average, unadjusted for seasonality, computed annual average (persons x 1,000) Source: Statistics Canada. Table 282-0056 - Labour force survey estimates (LFS), employment by census metropolitan area and North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), 3-month moving average, unadjusted for seasonality, computed annual average (persons), CANSIM (database), Using E-STAT (distributor)

  9. Hotel Worker Representation in Toronto and Mississauga, Ontario

  10. Eddie Melo 1960-2001

  11. Hotel Workers Rising – Summer 2006 Upper photos , Toronto, S. Tufts Lower photo , Vancouver , www.local40union.com

  12. Novotel Action, June 24, 2010, Toronto All photos by S. Tufts

  13. John Wilhelm, 2004 ''We think it makes sense to have like-minded unions join together to be bigger and stronger. We think the organizing programs of both unions will be dramatically accelerated” John W. Wilhelm, President of HERE (quoted in Greenhouse February, 2004)

  14. Bruce Raynor, 2004 “By voting to merge today, UNITE and HERE members did more than just combine two unions; they showed us a blueprint for the future of the labor movement. In this new global economy, workers need bigger stronger unions that are capable of taking on giant global employers when they have to. UNITE HERE is a union for the 21st Century” Bruce Raynor, President of UNITE HERE, July 2004

  15. Bruce Raynor, 2009 “By every measure, the 2004 merger of UNITE and HERE has been an abject failure and, unfortunately, it is time for our unions to divorce” Bruce Raynor, February 2009 Raynor resigns May 29, 2009 and is elected President of Workers United, affiliated with SEIU.

  16. Making sense of UNITE(and)HERE • Theorizing Union Mergers: forms; motivations; and barriers • UNITEHERE: timeline • Local Battles: The case of Toronto • Local Sector Council: A way forward?

  17. Motivations and Barriers to Union Mergers (from Chaison 2004)

  18. Theorizing Union Mergers: Anglo-American Perspectives (Chaison 2004) What we don’t know • Assessing success and failure • Impact of ‘superunions’ and the role of the state • Impact of mergers on union revival • Differences in mergers at (inter)national and regional/local scales

  19. Theorizing Union Mergers: A Geographical Perspective • Union mergers as production of scale • Union mergers as multi-scalar process

  20. UNITEHERE Formation

  21. UNITEHERE – 2009 Civil War

  22. Founded in 1923 by the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America Bank is currently owned by UNITEHERE as the result of the merger According to the 2007-2008 Annual Report, the bank has $4.5 billion in assets

  23. UNITE(and)HERE – 2009 Civil War

  24. Alex Dagg, July 2004 "What's really unusual about this merger is that it's designed as an offensive move rather than a survival strategy. Often these kinds of mergers happen to bolster union memberships, but UNITE and HERE are already two of the most aggressive unions in North America when it comes to organizing new members. This merger is all about giving us more resources and combining our strength to continue that aggressive expansion.“ UNITE Canadian Director Alexandra Dagg, July 2004

  25. Alex Dagg, May 2009 “They [UNITEHERE Local 75] are trying to take all our money, the union’s money. And they’re trying to claim that our bargaining rights, our employers belong to them. But here we are outside their office and they lock the doors from the very members that they are now claiming they represent” Director, Workers United Ontario Council, Alex Dagg Protest Against UNITE HERE Local 75, Toronto, May 14, 2009 Transcript from video posted and accessed on youtube.com

  26. UNITE(and)HERE – 2010 Peace?

  27. Global Wars and Local Battles:Unions competing for Toronto’s hotel workers

  28. Is there a way forward? Local Sector Council • Multi-union organization representing city hotel workers • Space for shared concerns regarding industry and workers • Space distinct from (inter)national union agendas without abandoning such differences • Space for coordinated local bargaining • Space for local comprehensive campaigns

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