VANCOUVER ISLAND

Strike averted as Empress Hotel reaches late-night deal with union

CTV Vancouver Island Published Wednesday, August 31, 2016 10:23AM PDT Last Updated Wednesday, August 31, 2016 2:05PM PDT

Victoria's Empress Hotel gets new owners

Developers Nat and Flora Bosa have purchased the iconic hotel in Victoria Habour. The ivy-clad landmark, named after Queen Victoria, opened in 1908. It captures the elegance of a bygone era and was designed by Francis Rattenburty, the same English architect who designed the B.C. Legislative buildings. The hotel will continue to be managed by Fairmont Hotels and Resorts. (Pictures courtesy of Fairmont)

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Unionized workers at the Empress Hotel have reached a deal with employers, averting a strike that could’ve disrupted service over Labour Day weekend.

Fairmont Empress announced the agreement following an hours-long negotiating session that stretched into the early morning Wednesday.

“We are very pleased to announce that at 1:45 a.m. the bargaining committee unanimously agreed to recommend ratification of the agreement between UNIFOR Local 4276 and Fairmont Empress,” said Director of Public Relations Kerry Duff. “As an employer of choice we are excited to move forward and continue to be committed to our guest and colleague experience.”

Exact details of the deal were not disclosed.

Prior to negotiations, workers were threatening to put up picket lines around the landmark hotel as early as Thursday morning.

The union said that ongoing renovations have posed health and safety risks for workers, while chronic understaffing has forced others to work as many as 60 consecutive days without a break.

It added that from its standpoint, it’s a “fair economical package.”

“We believe it hit some of the issues we had standing out there on the workload, overtime issue,” Unifor Local 4276 president James Griffin said. “We’re hoping that next season labour won’t be an issue and we’ll have more employees being hired.”

Unifor Local 4276 represents some 500 workers in housekeeping, culinary, groundskeeping, serving, guest relations, maintenance and engineering.

Fairmont Hotels declined to comment on the deal.

The union said it should know the results of the ratification vote by early next week.

“The smiles have come back,” Griffain said. “This has always been a hotel that’s been here for the community, been here for the travelers and we want this hotel to continue to be that with the smiles on the employee’s faces.”