Unite chalks up 18th victory over Unifor in battle for 24 Toronto-area hotels

TORONTO — A union local that represents nearly 8,000 hospitality workers in the Greater Toronto Area says it continues to represent employees of Four Points by Sheraton after they voted against joining Unifor.

Unite Here Local 75 announced the victory Thursday after a sealed ballot count by the Ontario Labour Relations Board.

It’s a setback for Unifor — the country’s largest private sector union — after it left the Canadian Labour Congress in mid-December after complaining about CLC’s regulations around allowing workers to change unions.

Unifor had attempted to represent workers at 24 of the 48 hotels represented by Unite Local 75 but the majority have voted to remain with Unite.

Results from most of the votes were announced in February but several were delayed by sealed ballot counts by the province’s labour relations board.

With the vote at Four Points, Unite continues to represent at least 18 of the 24 contested hotels, while Unifor won over Unite members from at least five hotels. The one uncounted vote is for the Sheraton Toronto Airport Hotel.

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