After More Than Two Years, Canada’s Longest Active Strike Is Still Going Strong
The owners of a Vancouver hotel cashed in millions from government programs and then fired over 140 workers. The workers fought back, and now their labor dispute has surpassed the two-year mark, marking it as Canada’s longest ongoing strike.
Workers and supporters at a rally to mark two years on the picket line at the Pacific Gateway Hotel in Richmond, British Columbia, May 25, 2023. (Emma Arkell)
The owners of a Vancouver-area hotel raked in millions from government programs while workers have been on the picket line for over two years, resulting in Canada’s longest ongoing strike.
Since March 2020, over 140 workers at the Pacific Gateway Hotel — recently rebranded as a Radisson Blu — have been laid off, only to be subsequently fired. The firings disproportionately impacted racialized women, some of whom worked at the hotel for decades.
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