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Essex House Workers Stage Protest During Sean Penn's Movie Shoot

Where: 160 Central Park S [map], New York, NY, United States, 10019

Well, this is sort of awkward timing for everyone: yesterday, workers at the Jumeirah Essex House on Central Park South (non-front-deskers, that is) staged a protest to call attention to "what they said was the hotel's failure to pay its banquet-room staff nearly $2 million in tips."

According to the New York Times, hotel workers in uniform stopped work entirely and "filled the hotel’s lobby with more than 100 red-frocked chambermaids, toque-topped kitchen workers and banquet waiters, casually chatting among themselves." A few feet away, Sean Penn and a film crew were filming a scene for an upcoming movie (we assume it was Fair Game with Naomi Watts). Yeah, kind of uncomfortable timing.

Per the Times:

...The strike was called to protest what the union said was the hotel's failure to heed an arbitrator's ruling in 2007.

The ruling required New York City hotels, bound by the union’s collective bargaining agreement, to pay their banquet-hall employees what amounted to millions of dollars in tips that the arbitrator said the hotels had improperly calculated since 2003.

Fortunately, the protest was peaceful enough that the film shoot wasn't disturbed (good thing; wouldn't want anyone going on Christian Bale on the set) and, even more fortunately, the dispute between the hotel and its workers will be settled by an independent arbitrator on Thursday.

[Photo: Patrick Andrade / New York Times]

Tags: Hotel Strikes / Hotel News / France Hotels / Island Hotels / → All Tags

Martinique Hotels Promise They're Still Welcoming Guests

As we reported last week, times have been tough out in the French island paradises of Martinique and Guadeloupe. Protests over living costs have been plaguing the islands for weeks, and as workers continue to strike, local businesses and tourism are seriously hurting.

Needless to say, the civil unrest and the strikes have paralyzed the tourism-dependent economies of both islands. Cruise ships have been diverting to other destinations, and at least 10,000 travelers have canceled flights.

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Strikes in Martinique and Guadeloupe Cripple Area Hotels

Our brother site Jaunted has been keeping you up-to-date on the unrest in the French island paradises of Martinique and Guadeloupe, but in case you haven't kept up: essentially, protests over living costs have been plaguing the islands for weeks and have burned local businesses and tourism. In Guadeloupe, 50,000 residents have been participating in a three-week strike; in Martinique, 11,000 are on their seventh day of protests.

Because of the strikes, gas and food are running low — and hotels are hurting for supplies while guests are canceling reservations due to the political situation. According to the UK Guardian, "petrol stations and the port have been closed and barricaded, supermarkets, schools, banks and government offices have shut and the strikes have caused power cuts, limited water supplies and left the island's half-a-million residents facing food shortages." Also, several hotels on; not good) — reportedly, about 15,000 French tourists have already canceled their plans and even Club Med has shut its main hotel property.

Got any dirt on hotel closings or what the situation is like out there? Drop us a line.

Photo: [guillaumeo]

Tags: Disneyland Hotels / Hotel Strikes / Hotel News / → All Tags

Officials Arrest Tinkerbell, Peter Pan During Disneyland Hotel Worker Protests

It's probably in your best interests to stay away from Disneyland and all of its hotels this week, as things are so chaotic over there right now that they've gone and arrested Tinkerbell. What is this world coming to?

Yesterday, we caught wind of the plans for Disneyland hotel workers' protests to go down last night. The issues involve about 2,300 unionized hotel workers at three Disney-owned hotels: the Paradise Pier, the Grand Californian and the Disneyland Hotel.

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Montreal Hotel Strike Heats Up as Fairmont's QE Workers Strike

The hotel strike in Montreal shows no sign of slowing down. We got a tip yesterday from a reader who said that attendees for the upcoming UFCW convention on August 17th--that's the United Food and Commercial Workers union--have ditched their planned accommodations at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel and are instead shacking up at the Loews.

The reason why? As you can guess, Fairmont's workers have just walked off the job. From the Montreal Gazette:

Workers at the largest hotel in Quebec, Montreal's Queen Elizabeth Hotel, have joined forces with other locked out or striking hotel employees in a labour conflict that now affects four major Montreal-area hotels.

The Queen Elizabeth workers walked off the job Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in a temporary strike that can last a maximum of 72 hours.

Yikes. Considering that the QE is Quebec's largest hotel, this cannot bode well. Although the 72 hours are almost up, guests headed there this weekend should probably expect a little drama. The Hyatt Regency is also affected as is the Hôtel des Gouverneurs Place Dupuis and the Holiday Inn in Longueuil.

Tags: Hyatt Hotels / Hotel Strikes / Housekeeping / Montreal Hotels / Hotel Staff / → All Tags

Montreal Hotel Workers Begin Strike at Hyatt Regency Hotel; Some Guest Services Affected

Where: 1255, Jeanne-Mance street, Montreal, QC, Canada, H5B1E5

Guests planning a stay at the Hyatt Regency in Montreal should probably lower their expectations on hotel service.

Approximately 280 hotel workers walked off the job over the weekend as contract negotiations failed. Most of the striking workers were housekeepers and kitchen staff who are seeking better wages, better retirement packages and less work loads. The housekeeper have once again cited oversized beds and pillows as to blame for making their workload harder.

The demand to reduce the number of rooms a housekeeper must clean is not "so we can spend time relaxing," [union president Myriam] Pacheco said. "Most of the rooms used to have only one bed. But after renovations, they almost all have two double beds, more pillows, heavier blankets and more products in the washrooms to replace," she said.

Guests at the hotel have been alerted to the strike by a letter from the general manager which is placed in every room. In it, he tells guests that room service and the swimming pool are closed and housekeeping services are limited.

For now, there is no note or update on the hotel's website, so if you have a reservation for this hotel and want to know more of what's going on when you are scheduled to stay there, call the hotel in person.

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Montreal Hotel Workers Go On Strike, You'll Be Making Your Own Bed Soon

Yet another reason to tip your housekeeper: 1,500 hotel workers from four big Montreal hotels (the Hyatt Regency, Sheraton Le Centre, Delta and Fairmont Queen Elizabeth) have gone on strike.

The workers are demanding higher wages, better pension plans and -- most of all -- fewer rooms for the housekeepers to clean per shift.

More hotel workers are expected to go on strike this week, too -- so prepare yourself for the possibility of (heaven forbid) making your own bed in your Montreal hotel room.

Just kidding. We hope...

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