Windsor Best Western Plus employees vote to accept offer, ending 2-month strike
Deal includes wage increase and improved benefits, Unifor says
The two-month strike at the Best Western Plus hotel in Windsor is over, with workers agreeing to a new three-year collective agreement.
Striking workers voted to accept the deal negotiated between their union and the hotel on Friday.
Nearly 40 hotel employees, who work mainly in guest services, housekeeping and maintenance, had been on strike since early June.
"It was very important for these workers and Unifor to take a stand at a hotel where members were facing rollbacks. They stood together and stood firm," Unifor National President Lana Payne said in a media release.
According to the union, the new collective agreement includes wage increases, a signing bonus, health-care benefits, more paid personal holidays and an improved retirement incentive package. A new parking benefit is said to save workers approximately $500 per year.
The contract also creates a wage one dollar per hour above Ontario's minimum wage.
"Workers don't take strikes lightly, but sometimes they are necessary to fight for better working conditions," Ontario Regional Director Samia Hashi said in the same statement.