Hotel workers struggling under new owner get their Thanksgiving turkeys after all

It’s bad news for workers when hotel management company HEI Hospitality buys a new hotel. In Cambridge, Massachusetts, HEI’s purchase of the former Hotel@MIT, which it turned into a Le Meridien, has left workers struggling not just with staffing cuts leading to heavy workloads, but with the loss of their Thanksgiving turkey. The hotel’s previous owners had always given workers a turkey as a Thanksgiving bonus; with HEI having done away with that practice, UNITE HERE Local 26, which is working with but doesn’t represent the Le Meridien workers, stepped in to fill the gap. “Tom the Turkey” distributed turkeys to hotel staff Monday afternoon, while making a run for most puns in a press statement ever:

 

LE MERIDIEN WORKERS CALL FOWL

Generous Gobbler to Prevent Thanksgiving Poultry Problem

CAMBRIDGE, MA – In a twist of fate, Tom the Turkey will be handing out dozens of holiday birds to hotel workers at the Le Meridien hotel in Cambridge on Monday, November 19 from 4-5pm. Current owners, HEI Hotels & Resorts, abandoned this act of caring that had long been a holiday mainstay at the hotel. Boston’s Local 26 stepped in to provide support.

“Le Meridien’s owners have groused about this meaningful tradition, to the point that they have carved it out completely,” said Tom. “They are using cut backs to make gravy and are stuffing their pockets. The new owners cannot continue to peck and scratch at the housekeepers, kitchen staff, and others – the workers who make a hotel run.”

The Cambridge City Council supports a boycott of the Le Meridien because workers must endure crushing workloads due to 30% workforce cutbacks initiated by the new owner. The Le Meridien owners rejected calls for a fair process for workers to decide on unionization. At Monday’s event, Tom the Turkey may even flip a bird to the owner.

WHO: Tom the Thanksgiving Turkey (person in turkey costume)

WHAT: Boston’s Local 26 giving Thanksgiving turkeys to hotel workers – bellboys, housekeepers, kitchen staff, others

WHERE: Le Meridien Hotel

20 Sidney Street

Cambridge, MA

WHEN: Monday, November 14, 4-5 pm

 

November 15, 2012
Media Advisory
Contact:   Steve Crawford
857-753-4132

 

Boycott revs up against hotel, where so far it’s ‘business as usual’

By Marc Levy
October 24, 2012

 

Le Méridien Hotel management said it’s feeling no impact from a boycott called by workers and city officials a little over a week ago, but a union official warns that it’s early yet.

Workers called Oct. 11 for a boycott of their own employer and appeared the next Monday before the City Council, where a ban on holding city events was affirmed unanimously by councillors. In addition to demanding such events as a biennial post-election celebration be moved from the 20 Sidney St. hotel, some also testified to putting a more personal stamp on their opposition to management’s practices, with vice mayor Denise Simmons saying she had stopped having tea at the hotel and councillor Tim Toomey saying he was telling people to take their business elsewhere.

Le Meridien Hotel Workers Boycott in Cambridge

“On Thursday, October 11, 2012, workers at the Le Meridien Cambridge launched a boycott of their own hotel.

Join us for a Rally & Picket Line – Le Meridien Hotel in Cambridge

Join us for a rally and picket line at the Le Meridien Hotel in Cambridge at 4:00pm on Thursday, October 11th.  Click here for more information.  Click here to learn more about the rally.