Media Advisory: No Breakfast-As-Usual this Labor Day
Media Advisory for Monday, September 2, 2024
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No Breakfast-As-Usual this Labor Day:
- Annual Labor Day breakfast and program to be hosted outdoors on Columbus Ave. in Boston as hotel workers kick off strike
- The street outside Hilton Park Plaza will be new location for gathering of union workers and leaders from across industries along with elected officials
- Union popularity at historic highs; record number of women leaders to take center stage at annual gathering; hotel, healthcare, and janitor rallies will precede and follow breakfast program
BOSTON, MA – In solidarity with striking hotel workers, it won’t be breakfast-as-usual according to the organizers of the annual Labor Day breakfast in Boston. There will be a new look for the event this year – including outdoor seating and an outdoor stage constructed at Statler Park, just behind the traditional location at the Hilton Park Plaza Hotel. The event is hosted annually by the Greater Boston Labor Council, an umbrella organization representing more than 100,000 workers.
“Hotel executives are making unprecedented millions while workers right here in Boston struggle with the basics,” said Greater Boston Labor Council President Darlene Lombos. “We are changing plans and doing things differently this year. We are going to bring attention to the changes that are needed in the hotel industry, and frankly, so many other industries, where workers continue to be paid far too little as executive compensation goes up and up.”
For decades, the breakfast has taken place inside the Park Plaza Hotel, drawing attention to key worker struggles of the moment and drawing elected officials to break bread with the union workers who drive the Greater Boston economy – from healthcare workers, to construction workers, to retail workers, and more.
This year’s breakfast will continue to draw attention to worker campaigns – including not just the hotel workers’ strike, but also campaigns amongst healthcare workers and janitors, along with others.
In solidarity with the hotel workers of UNITE-HERE Local 26 whose contracts expired on August 31, leaders and organizers from the Greater Boston Labor Council began making contingency plans to conduct the breakfast at an alternate location in case the workers ended up on strike for Labor Day. Multiple options were considered but ultimately organizers landed on what they felt would call the most attention to the needs and stories of the hotel workers – staging the breakfast directly across from one of the hotels where workers are now on strike.
Tables, tents, chairs, dishes, and silverware will populate a portion of Columbus Ave. in Boston as union hotel workers serve and conduct the breakfast proceedings, albeit in a dramatically different setting. Organizers secured all relevant permits from the City of Boston for the outdoor option in the days leading up to the Local 26 contract expiration date, in anticipation of a possible strike.
“I’m on strike because I’m literally tired of working in multiple departments and having an unpredictable weekly schedule just so I can make 40 hours a week,” said Michael Correa, a Barback at the Hilton Boston Logan Airport Hotel for 17 years. “Going on strike is a huge sacrifice, but it’s something I have to do for myself and my two daughters. We told the bosses in our negotiations how hard things are for us right now, but they didn’t care. The hotel only respects power, so it’s time to show them our strength.”
The annual breakfast also marks an important seachange: there will be a majority of women leaders from across the political and labor landscape leading the day. Across the state, women are now the majority of union workers throughout a number of industries – including healthcare, service, security, and retail sectors – and the number of elected leadership positions held by women in the state has never been greater.
According to UNITE HERE Local 26, the US hotel industry made over $100 billion in gross profit in 2022, and hotel executives at Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott made $596 million in total between 2020 and 2023. Meanwhile, U.S. hotel staffing per occupied room was down 13% from 2019 to 2022 as many hotels nationwide have kept COVID-era service cuts in place, including understaffing, ending automatic daily housekeeping, removing food and beverage options, and more. The strike also comes during a busy long weekend for the hospitality industry.
U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, Governor Maura Healey, Mayor Michelle Wu, and other elected officials are scheduled to attend the breakfast, both in solidarity with striking workers, and to honor the history and general efforts of the labor movement to expand workplace safety, healthcare access, economic and racial justice, and to support workers as they continue to fight to be respected, protected, and paid.
After the breakfast, rallies will also be held in support of 2,500 medical residents seeking a first contract with MGH/Brigham and in support of service workers fighting to regain their jobs at 100 Sudbury, a luxury high-rise building in downtown Boston.
Workers from many other industries will also take to the stage to underscore a variety of ongoing organizing and contract-related campaigns.
WHAT:
Greater Boston Labor Council’s Labor Day breakfast
WHO:
Union workers from across a wide range of industries
US Senator Elizabeth Warren
US Senator Ed Markey
US Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell
City of Boston Mayor Michelle Wu
Darlene Lombos, President, Greater Boston Labor Council
Brian Doherty, Executive Secretary-Treasurer, Greater Boston Building Trades Unions
Chrissy Lynch, President, MA AFL-CIO
Others TBD
WHEN:
Monday, September 2, 2024
Tentative schedule:
- Attendees to join picket lines at Hilton Park Plaza begin at 7:00 a.m.
- Labor Day Breakfast registration begins at 7:30 a.m. near the intersection of Arlington Street and Columbus Avenue, 02166
- Off-stage direct media availability with labor leaders, workers at 8:30 a.m. to the side of stage in Statler Park
- Stage program begins at 9:00 a.m.
- Rally in support of residents and interns at 12:00 p.m. Location: MGH Brigham - Cardinal Cushing Park
- 32BJ workers will kick off a demonstration march at 1:00 p.m. Location: 100 Sudbury St. Boston, MA 02114
Media: For credentialing, please confirm your attendance here or for last-minute credentials contact GBLC@617MediaGroup.com.
WHERE:
Media registration table will be located at intersection of Arlington Ave. and Columbus Ave., Boston, MA
Further background:
About 900 hotel workers represented by UNITE HERE Local 26 began their strike this weekend at 35 participating hotels, including the Hilton Boston Park Plaza, the Hilton Boston Logan Airport, and the Fairmont Copley Plaza, carrying “On Strike” signs. These actions come after months of unsuccessful negotiations over wages and workloads, leading to an overwhelming 99% vote to authorize a historic Citywide strike, which could happen anytime after contracts expire on August 31st.
“We are ready to bargain at any time, please step up, please resolve this situation, please pay these hard-working people in your industry what they're worth,” said union president Carlos Aramayo.
Lawmakers, community leaders and workers will rally following the breakfast in solidarity with SEIU 32BJ and SEIU/CIR.
More than 2,500 Committee of Interns and Residents of SEIU are fighting for a first contract at Mass General Brigham.
32BJ janitors at 100 Sudbury were reportedly given less than a day’s notice they would no longer have a job before owners allegedly ended the cleaners’ jobs by suddenly terminating its unionized cleaning contractor.
The following details were released to attendees by the Greater Boston Labor Council following the official announcement of the hotel workers’ strike:
We will not cross the picket line but we will still celebrate Labor Day together.
See below for the updated schedule and answer to your questions. Solidarity Forever!
Labor Day Schedule - Monday, Sept. 2, 2024:
- 7am – Join the Local 26 Picket line at the Park Plaza, 50 Park Plaza
- 7:30am -- Registration opens for breakfast. Find the registration table near the intersection of Arlington St. and Columbus Ave. to receive your table assignment.
- 8:30am -- Breakfast is served
- 9am -- Speaking program begins. Guests are encouraged to gather near the stage but can also stay in their seats.
- 10:30am -- Join the Local 26 picket line!
- 11:30am -- Union Buses depart for two Solidarity Actions - all welcome and encouraged to hop aboard to support SEIU/CIR and SEIU 32bj - see below for details.
Details and FAQs:
- Even though we'll be outside, breakfast will still be served to all ticketed breakfast guests by union workers.
- Now more than ever, dress comfortably so you can support workers on the line! Wear your union colors or movement or political t-shirts!
- Hotel workers are striking at the Boston Park Plaza and also Hilton Logan Airport, Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel, Hampton Inn/Homewood Suites Seaport. DO NOT CROSS THE PICKET LINE!
- If you do not have a ticket for breakfast, please still walk the picket line and attend the rallies.
- Contact Rachael for more information (rrunning@gblc.us)
More information on Labor Day Solidarity Rallies - 11am
- SEIU/CIR Rally for a contract at Mass General Brigham, 5 New Chardon Street, Boston
- Last year, 2,500 residents and fellow physicians won their union with CIR/SEIU in a landslide election at Mass General Brigham. This is the first group of unionized workers at MGB. Workers want a first contract that will make MGB truly world-class for everyone—frontline staff, patients, and the entire community.
- SEIU 32BJ, Janitors Rally against termination, 100 Sudbury Street, Boston
- 32BJ SEIU will be holding a march in front of 100 Sudbury. In July, one of the building’s owners ended the cleaners’ jobs by suddenly terminating its unionized cleaning contractor. 32BJ janitors were given less than a day’s notice they would no longer have a job. On Labor Day stand united in the fight for good, UNION jobs for working people in Boston!
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About the Greater Boston Labor Council
Chartered by the National AFL-CIO, the Greater Boston Labor Council’s mission is to improve the lives of working families within the 24 communities in our jurisdiction. Our goal is to build a movement of unions and workers to advocate for working family issues in city and town halls throughout Greater Boston. The Greater Boston Labor Council also seeks to reach out to progressive allies within our communities to form coalitions to advance the cause of economic justice. Through our Committee on Political Education (COPE), the Greater Boston Labor Council is actively engaged in the political process. We endorse and campaign for candidates for municipal office who are supportive of the needs of union members and working families.