Letter from Workers United Member Diane Barnim
Dear Mr John Wilhelm, President, UNITE HERE,
My name is Diane and I am a housekeeper at the Holiday Inn in St. Catharines, Ontario. Recently, through your lawyers, you took actions to stop the recognition of my union and stall bargaining.
I've heard you did this as part of a nasty, inter-union war between UNITE HERE and Workers United. The campaign to organize the union at my hotel was also nasty, full of employer obstacles and I myself was fired soon after the drive began. That a union leader is now the one to throw up the latest obstacles to our union, is as heartbreaking as it is infuriating.
I understand the merger of your union, UNITE HERE, has failed. I know members across North America, including those in the Workers United Ontario Council, voted to end their affiliation with your union. I am sure this is a difficult time but I do not think that gives you the right to interfere in the organizing campaign at my hotel. Hotel workers, trying to organize, should never be used as pawns in your inter-union conflict.
Mr. Wilhelm, I noticed that you never signed on to the "I Stand with Diane" campaign but you should know that for months, my co-workers and I stood up to our employer, demanding fair treatment and the right to organize. With the help of Niagara's Local 2347, the Workers United Ontario Council, labour activists like Danny Glover and Sarah Polley, local politicians and online supporters; we won our union. Workers United Local 2347 and the Ontario Council supported us through this whole campaign and they are our union. We were on our way to starting the process of negotiations until you provided my employer with an excuse to avoid the first contract. This is wrong by any measure.
When it came to answering the question of our campaign for justice in the workplace, "Who Stands with Diane?", you didn't answer the call Mr. Wilhelm and now you are standing in our way. For the good of my co-workers, I ask that if you can't stand with us, then at least don't stand against us.
If hotel workers are being hurt -- and your actions at my hotel are hurting hotel workers -- then don't you think it is time to end this conflict? Why won't you sit down with Workers United and settle or arbitrate? What can you possibly gain in continuing this conflict that is worth the price being paid by me and my co-workers?
"All's fair in love and war" shouldn't apply to an inter-union conflict. Some basic standards should prevail. The right of workers to organize should prevail.
Mr. Wilhelm, hotel workers need this conflict to end. It is time for you to stop your interference at the Holiday Inn St.Catharines. It is time for you to sit down and settle your conflict with Workers United.
Sincerely,
Diane Barnim
Hotel Worker, St.Catharines, Ontario, Canada
cc: Mr. Bruce Raynor, President, Workers United
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