Speaker 1: It's with Dan Ray.
Speaker 2: I'm telling Boston.
Speaker 3: Radio, all right, there is a big, big strike going
Speaker 3: on at several Boston hotels, a very public strike at
Speaker 3: some of the city's most expensive hotels. And I've read
Speaker 3: a lot about the strike, but today I thought it
Speaker 3: would be good to talk to a member of the
Speaker 3: union to find out what's at stake there. There seems
Speaker 3: to be some legitimate claims that these strikers, these these
Speaker 3: union members have I've never spoken with my guest before.
Speaker 3: I think he's busy today on the picket line. I
Speaker 3: want to welcome Isaac smith Kauer. He is a cook
Speaker 3: at the Omni Boston Seaport Hotel. Isaac, welcome to Nightside.
Speaker 1: How are you, sir, I'm not doing too bad. How
Speaker 1: about yourself?
Speaker 4: Then, well I'm you and fine.
Speaker 3: You guys got a strike on your hands, so I
Speaker 3: want to know a little more about it, just to
Speaker 3: introduce it to the audience. Our reporters were out there
Speaker 3: today and I just want to play one of the
Speaker 3: reports that Hyle Shaffle filed just as a table cetter.
Speaker 3: So just hang with us for one minute.
Speaker 4: Here.
Speaker 3: We'll listen to cut number twenty three and I'll be
Speaker 3: right back with you. ISAA cut number twenty.
Speaker 1: Three sounds good?
Speaker 5: Close to seven hundred Omni Parker workers walking off the job.
Speaker 5: Boston sotel strike is more than doubled overnight.
Speaker 1: You know, everything is cruently Expensive'll pay the rent, pay
Speaker 1: the billst and and everybody to.
Speaker 5: God is fight marta housekeeper joined dozens of our coworkers
Speaker 5: at the Seaport Omnium to demand a contract and higher wages.
Speaker 5: Your night here Local twenty six President Carlos Rmios, there's
Speaker 5: a pay month for the workers. Will mean the difference
Speaker 5: between staying in Boston and being forced out.
Speaker 4: If they keep saying make them pay, make them pay.
Speaker 5: They're demanding at the hotels step forward and reach a
Speaker 5: contract that gives them significant ways increases. Another housekeeper I
Speaker 5: talked to was I rate over needed to work multiple
Speaker 5: jobs just to cover rent.
Speaker 4: You cannot leave with just one job, just one job
Speaker 4: should be none.
Speaker 5: There's no end insight to the strike, and union leaders
Speaker 5: say more hotels could be added at any time. Kyle
Speaker 5: Shaffle to Beds Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 3: All right, so that's sort of a table set of
Speaker 3: for this, But let's go back in a little bit
Speaker 3: of history here I guess the union came to an agreement.
Speaker 4: It was the twenty eighteen was the last time a
Speaker 4: contract was signed.
Speaker 1: Uh, yeah, that's correct. That's actually before I was in
Speaker 1: the union though I'm a baby union member. But yeah,
Speaker 1: so this is my this is my first contract fight.
Speaker 1: But yeah, it's been it's been a while.
Speaker 4: Sure, okay, no problem.
Speaker 3: Hey none of us were alive when George Washington was
Speaker 3: the first president, but we all know about that, so
Speaker 3: no problem.
Speaker 1: So that's right.
Speaker 3: Is mine standing is that when the contract expired, it
Speaker 3: was during the time of COVID, and that there was
Speaker 3: an agreement to extend the contract for a couple of years.
Speaker 3: I just want to make sure, just in terms of
Speaker 3: setting the the history here that I'm fairly close to accurate.
Speaker 4: Is that true as you as you understand.
Speaker 1: It now, that that is true as I understand it.
Speaker 1: We came to an agreement with the hotels to you know,
Speaker 1: kind of maintain, maintain our contract and our benefits, but
Speaker 1: not push for two more because you know, you can't.
Speaker 1: You couldn't stay there at a hotel during a during
Speaker 1: the global pandemic. It was not a good time for travel.
Speaker 4: Tough time.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So now the hotel.
Speaker 3: Now that crisis seems to have passed, okay, and the
Speaker 3: hotels are back pretty full.
Speaker 4: How many union.
Speaker 3: Members does Local twenty six represent in Boston? And is
Speaker 3: it every hotel or just certain hotels that have the
Speaker 3: union membership the members have decided to join the union.
Speaker 3: It's not every hotel in Boston, correct.
Speaker 1: So no, it's not every We represent a lot of
Speaker 1: the hotels in Boston. And I honestly can't say exactly
Speaker 1: how many members you represent. I do know that right
Speaker 1: now there are about thirteen hundred of us striking. But yeah,
Speaker 1: it's not every hotel is union. We represent most of
Speaker 1: the hotels in the city, though, And it is just
Speaker 1: about it is about, you know, having a union is
Speaker 1: in the hands of the people. So it's about who
Speaker 1: you know signs up and works for. Is it works
Speaker 1: with us and votes for the union? You know what
Speaker 1: I mean?
Speaker 4: Yeah, absolutely so, so my understanding.
Speaker 3: And again I've followed this from Afar and that's why
Speaker 3: I appreciate you being on tonight because it'll give us
Speaker 3: a better sense of what's going on. That the union
Speaker 3: has taken a couple of steps excuse me there, taken
Speaker 3: a couple of steps over the last few weeks, in
Speaker 3: the last couple of months to I want to bring
Speaker 3: this work issue out into public and for a while
Speaker 3: certain hotels there were work stoppages, but this activity of
Speaker 3: the last couple of days has intensified. So how many hotels,
Speaker 3: how many how many hotels employees or unions at how
Speaker 3: many hotels were on we're on strike today on the
Speaker 3: picket line? Is it four that were that were that
Speaker 3: were impacted today?
Speaker 1: Yes, so there's uh, there's four hotels on strike today.
Speaker 1: It's both of the Omnis and two of the two
Speaker 1: of the Hiltons that are on hotel and it's about
Speaker 1: thirteen hundred members out right now. I was on the
Speaker 1: picket line earlier today. You know, there's it's always a
Speaker 1: good time at the Omni Seaport picket line. We keep it,
Speaker 1: we keep we keep it lit over there.
Speaker 3: Yeah, okay, So what has been the reaction of Obviously
Speaker 3: most of the people at the Omni Seaport are not
Speaker 3: your average Bostonians. There are people who are come here
Speaker 3: to attend an event or for business purposes or to
Speaker 3: become tourists. Are you getting support, you know, at least
Speaker 3: verbal support from from people who are checking into the hotels.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, it's a mixed bag. There's definitely people
Speaker 1: who I've definitely seen a lot of support from a
Speaker 1: lot of people. I've personally talked to people saying that,
Speaker 1: you know, we're fighting a good fight. This is where
Speaker 1: it starts. Stuff like that, you know, But also, and
Speaker 1: I don't One of the things that I want to
Speaker 1: make clear is that you know, this strike is not
Speaker 1: against the guests, it's against the hotel. So I do feel.
Speaker 1: I feel very bad when you know, I see I
Speaker 1: see we're making noise and like, you know, I see
Speaker 1: a kid covering their ears, I see people who haven't
Speaker 1: slept very well. But you know, because I'm not in
Speaker 1: hospitality to not get to not make people feel good,
Speaker 1: you understand me, Like, like I care about the customers,
Speaker 1: I care about the guests, right, So it's rough to see.
Speaker 1: And so I understand people being annoyed. You know, they
Speaker 1: spend so much money on these rooms. You know, we
Speaker 1: had a woman, we had a woman come talk to
Speaker 1: us today talking about she was spending nearly nine hundred
Speaker 1: dollars a night and could and had never crossed the
Speaker 1: picket line in her life and didn't want to. It
Speaker 1: was very very apologetic about it. You know, so I
Speaker 1: understand people being upset and mad, But what people need
Speaker 1: to understand and realize at the end of the day
Speaker 1: is that we're not try We don't want to be
Speaker 1: out here ruining people's stay. We don't want to be
Speaker 1: out here disturbing people's stay. We would love to be
Speaker 1: in there providing the amazing service that you know, I
Speaker 1: know that me and my coworkers delivered. We'd much rather
Speaker 1: be doing that. But we're just at a point where
Speaker 1: it's like, if we this is what it takes for
Speaker 1: the company to even listen to us. You know, they
Speaker 1: we we've we've been open negotiations since April, and you know,
Speaker 1: we've seen very little movement forward on the on the
Speaker 1: part of the companies.
Speaker 3: When we get back, Isaac would have liked to talk
Speaker 3: to you about and again, I don't know how much
Speaker 3: how specific you can be, but I'd love to find
Speaker 3: out a little bit about what the current wages are,
Speaker 3: if the wages differentiated between I understand you're a cook,
Speaker 3: if I'm not mistaken, correct, Yeah, okay, so I don't
Speaker 3: know if you're compensated more than all other union members,
Speaker 3: if the compensation depends upon what job you feel or
Speaker 3: whether or not it's across the board, And what are
Speaker 3: the requests that the union is making, which I'm sure
Speaker 3: you believe are more than reasonable. And how close you
Speaker 3: are to this this weekend. Someone reminded me today that
Speaker 3: is the head of the Child's weekend, and so there
Speaker 3: are a lot of people coming into Boston, and if
Speaker 3: the strike is still going on this weekend, that's going
Speaker 3: to have a real impact on the hotels. And I
Speaker 3: think that the pressure that you're bringing to bear may
Speaker 3: may help cause the strike to be to be finished.
Speaker 3: I'm sure you'd prefer to be in the hotel then
Speaker 3: on the picket line. We'll take a we'll take a break.
Speaker 3: My guest right now is a member of the Boston
Speaker 3: Hotel union that is on strike. It's Unite here Local
Speaker 3: twenty six, Isaac Smith Kawa, a cook at the Omni
Speaker 3: Boston Seaport Hotel. I've read a lot a lot about this,
Speaker 3: and I'm hoping that Isaac will be able to share
Speaker 3: some of the specifics and how far apart everyone is here.
Speaker 3: I haven't talked to him earlier today because he was
Speaker 3: on the picket line. So I'm asking him questions that
Speaker 3: this has not been These are not prepared questions that
Speaker 3: I've submitted. I'm really just a search for information, and
Speaker 3: I think Isaac's been pretty forthcoming so far, and I
Speaker 3: hope will continue to be.
Speaker 4: We'll be back on Nightside. If you'd like to.
Speaker 3: Join the conversation, feel free six one seven, two, five,
Speaker 3: four ten thirty or six one seven, nine three one
Speaker 3: ten thirty. My name is Dan Roy and this is
Speaker 3: night Side.
Speaker 2: Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Speaker 2: night Side Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 3: My guest is Isaac Smith cow Op. He is a
Speaker 3: cook in Boston, a member of the union that is
Speaker 3: on strike here in the city, has been on strike
Speaker 3: for some time now. He's a cook at the Army
Speaker 3: Boston Seaport Hotel. So, so, Isaac, a couple of questions,
Speaker 3: if I could. Everyone's in the union, but are people
Speaker 3: treated differently by the hotels? Are there, for example, the
Speaker 3: cooks make more money than the folks who are outside,
Speaker 3: or you know, the luggage people or the desk people.
Speaker 3: Who does the union cover at a hotel? At the
Speaker 3: hotels here in Boston where you have organized how many
Speaker 3: different positions, do you folks represent.
Speaker 1: You know, it's it depends hotel to hotel. Certain hotels
Speaker 1: are every department is unionized, hotel not. Not every department
Speaker 1: is unionized, but they do have the ability to sign
Speaker 1: cards and join the union. So it's really it's really
Speaker 1: kind of case by case. It depends on the way
Speaker 1: the individual contract is written.
Speaker 3: Okay, so as a cook, as a cook, do you
Speaker 3: earn more money as a cook than let's say, someone
Speaker 3: who's on the the cleaning staff, the folks who do
Speaker 3: the very important work of cleaning rooms and getting them ready,
Speaker 3: you know, fresh and clean for new guests, or is
Speaker 3: there a discrepancy there or does everyone make the same
Speaker 3: amount of money based upon how long they've worked at
Speaker 3: the hotel.
Speaker 1: Everyone's compensated very similarly. And I'd also like to say that,
Speaker 1: I mean, every job in the hotel is important. Every
Speaker 1: every single every single worker functions to make that to make.
Speaker 4: If you get to the hotel and your room isn't
Speaker 4: made up, you got to sit in the lobby and wait.
Speaker 4: Or if you get to the.
Speaker 3: Room and the and the room hasn't been made up
Speaker 3: or properly, and you know, you walk out of the
Speaker 3: room and you say, I don't want to go in there.
Speaker 3: So how far apart uh all is the union from
Speaker 3: the hotels. I assume the hoteltels that you manage your
Speaker 3: negotiations with all the hotels together. You're not negotiating your
Speaker 3: contract at the Omni Seaport, and someone else is in
Speaker 3: some other group of is negotiating and contract at the
Speaker 3: Omni Parker House, the the the Omni park Plaza. If
Speaker 3: if I assume that it's a combined the uniony that
Speaker 3: gets a contract and everybody goes back to work.
Speaker 4: It's not like they're gonna go hotel by hotel.
Speaker 1: So we are all standing in solidarity with each other,
Speaker 1: but it's not exactly the same hotel the same contract
Speaker 1: for each hotel. So, but what we are fighting for
Speaker 1: is our five core demands, which is a record pay increase,
Speaker 1: more than has ever been achieved in our locals history.
Speaker 1: Another core demand is to maintain our health insurance at
Speaker 1: the same price that it's at because you know, the
Speaker 1: health insurance plan that we have has been hard fought
Speaker 1: by union members even before me, and it's constantly under attack,
Speaker 1: so we need to maintain that. We're looking to fix
Speaker 1: the issue, fix the issues in housekeeping, because like you said,
Speaker 1: the housekeepers are doing insanely important work without with with
Speaker 1: no rooms, there's no hotels. And with the no housekeepers,
Speaker 1: there's no rooms, and they have been overworked and overloaded
Speaker 1: since since COVID, So we're looking to fix that. We're
Speaker 1: looking to increase our pension so my older brothers and
Speaker 1: sisters and siblings in the union are able to retire
Speaker 1: with dignity. You know, they work hard to make sure
Speaker 1: that every person who comes visit Boston is made to
Speaker 1: feel special and care for, and they should be able
Speaker 1: to they should be able to experience their golden years
Speaker 1: with prosperity and dignity. And the last thing that we're
Speaker 1: fighting for is our more control over the hiring practices
Speaker 1: because the hotels have been understaffing since COVID. You know,
Speaker 1: our staffing numbers are similar to COVID times, but you
Speaker 1: know we don't have those restrictions no more, and we're
Speaker 1: making way more money than they was making during COVID,
Speaker 1: so there's no reason for that. And also a severance
Speaker 1: deal to further protect the further protect our members if
Speaker 1: they need to, if there's a situation where there are layoffs.
Speaker 4: Okay, so let's go all of those.
Speaker 3: Those concerns are vitally important, but at the core of
Speaker 3: any contract negotiations always is going to be the money.
Speaker 3: So give me, if you would, an approximation, you know,
Speaker 3: an honest approximation. You seem like an honest guy. How
Speaker 3: much does the average hotel worker who does all this
Speaker 3: hard work, which includes again housekeeping, you know, cooking, making
Speaker 3: sure that the food comes out on time and that
Speaker 3: everyone's satisfied with their meals, to the people who greet
Speaker 3: people at the door when they come in and carry
Speaker 3: their luggage and make sure that they're well received. What
Speaker 3: does the average hotel worker make at one of the
Speaker 3: major hotels in Boston that's in the union. Approximately.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna tell you what it is, man, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: tell you it's not enough, brother, Like at the end
Speaker 1: of the day, like the majority of members all have
Speaker 1: two jobs work amount of overtime.
Speaker 3: No, I understand that, and I respect that, but can
Speaker 3: you give me a rough number? Is it ten dollars
Speaker 3: an hour, twenty dollars an hour? What sort of a
Speaker 3: range are we talking about here? Because I think it's
Speaker 3: important for people to know that in a day when
Speaker 3: you know, money doesn't go as far as it used to. Approximately,
Speaker 3: what's what's the range that that the And I haven't
Speaker 3: seen this in the in the newspapers, which is to
Speaker 3: me frustrating because I want to know how strongly I
Speaker 3: want to support the workers.
Speaker 1: Well, I mean you should just support the workers anyway.
Speaker 3: Right, No, I understand, I'll figure that out, Isaac. I'm
Speaker 3: not being a wise guy. And if you don't want
Speaker 3: to answer that question, that's fine, you can say that.
Speaker 3: But I think it would be in the union's interest
Speaker 3: if you said to me, hey, Dan, believe it or not,
Speaker 3: the average person who works at one of these five
Speaker 3: star hotels in Boston that we represented that we're striking.
Speaker 4: Against now makes X. Just to put it in terms
Speaker 4: that people can understand.
Speaker 1: Well, I mean we're making you know, it's like around
Speaker 1: twenty like the twenties area, you know. And I think
Speaker 1: just to put in perspective, right like, uh, to speak
Speaker 1: about the dude who owns my hotel, This is a
Speaker 1: man whose net worth has gone up almost one and
Speaker 1: a half billion dollars over the course of your hotel
Speaker 1: three Robert Rolling, Robert Rolling, Right.
Speaker 3: Then I assume you work at the Omni seaports, So
Speaker 3: that's who he's talking about.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he is, he's the owner of all the Omni hotels. Well,
Speaker 1: you know, this is a man, This is a man
Speaker 1: whose net worth has gone up by almost one and
Speaker 1: a half billion dollars right over the course of one year,
Speaker 1: you know, twenty twenty three to twenty twenty four. If
Speaker 1: you break that down, right, that's roughly forty four dollars
Speaker 1: every second. So just just think about how much money
Speaker 1: he's made during this conversation, right while we have members.
Speaker 1: You know, you don't have to be struggling.
Speaker 3: You know, Isaac, that's an interesting stat You don't have
Speaker 3: to convince me on that. So now my question that
Speaker 3: I want to get to is if the average hotel
Speaker 3: workers and somewhere in the twenties, I'm just gonna round
Speaker 3: it and say, twenty five dollars.
Speaker 4: An hour, what is the You said you want a record.
Speaker 3: Increase, which which I respect, uh, in which the hotel
Speaker 3: should respect. How much is the is the union asking for?
Speaker 3: And is the hotel at least responding with a counteroffer
Speaker 3: or are they just just sitting across the table and
Speaker 3: offering nothing back.
Speaker 1: I mean, the hotel's counter offers have been like very disrespectful.
Speaker 1: You know, some of the counter offers that they have
Speaker 1: that they have offered actually amount to a paid decrease
Speaker 1: because we'd have to it would increase our how much
Speaker 1: we pay for healthcare health Okay.
Speaker 4: I get that. I get that. So what what are
Speaker 4: you guys looking for?
Speaker 3: And I and I'm not sure what What is the
Speaker 3: normal term of a contract? It is normally a three
Speaker 3: year contract or a four year contract. What's the normal
Speaker 3: contract length?
Speaker 1: So our contract is roughly four years? Okay, but like
Speaker 1: like we talked about earlier, we've had the contract we
Speaker 1: have for a little bit longer since it was since
Speaker 1: we got an extension during com I got it.
Speaker 4: I got it.
Speaker 3: So will this contract go forwards four years for you?
Speaker 3: Or will it be retroactive for a couple of years
Speaker 3: and only go forward two years?
Speaker 1: No, So the way that the contract works is that
Speaker 1: when we sign it, if so, we're on strike now,
Speaker 1: our contract's been up for like a month now, right,
Speaker 1: so when we go back every day that we worked,
Speaker 1: we're going to get every day that we worked without
Speaker 1: the updated contract. We'll get some retro for that.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: So it's retroactive to the day when the contract expired,
Speaker 3: which is a month ago, is what you're telling me.
Speaker 3: So therefore, when the contract is reached, it will cover
Speaker 3: you for the next four years approximately. So come back
Speaker 3: to what you talked about. How did you guys want
Speaker 3: to have a record.
Speaker 4: Raise?
Speaker 3: What's the how much are you looking for that you
Speaker 3: feel would be fair over a period of four years.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm not really I deliver you to say that
Speaker 1: right now, but like I said, it's a record increase.
Speaker 1: It would be the most that we've ever it would
Speaker 1: be the most that the local has ever achieved in
Speaker 1: a contract fight. And like I said, it's it's necessary,
Speaker 1: you know, like, and I know you're not.
Speaker 3: I'm actually try understand help you, Isaac. I'm actually trying
Speaker 3: to help you make your case here. So so if
Speaker 3: you're saying it's a record increase, I'm betting that you're
Speaker 3: talking about over the course of the contract probably somewhere
Speaker 3: close to thirty percent at least.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, yeah, something in that ballpark range.
Speaker 4: But yeah, that's what I'm you know, I've been around.
Speaker 3: I'm not the numbest guy in the world, so I
Speaker 3: can figure that one out. And that would be a
Speaker 3: that's a healthy raise, but it's over the course of
Speaker 3: four years.
Speaker 4: It's not thirty percent immediately.
Speaker 3: It's over the you know, it's staggered in whether it's
Speaker 3: seven and eight, seven and eight or whatever, they would
Speaker 3: get you to that thirty percent. And you know, if
Speaker 3: you look at what room rates were six years ago
Speaker 3: compared to what they are today, I think you could
Speaker 3: make that analogy isaink is what I'm trying to say
Speaker 3: to you that if they were charging two hundred dollars
Speaker 3: for a room at these hotels five years ago and
Speaker 3: now they're charging five hundred dollars, that's a hell of
Speaker 3: it increase, you.
Speaker 4: Know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: No, yeah, and so so I think that's why I
Speaker 1: brought that that in, right, So like what we would get,
Speaker 1: would you know, it's it's still less than what this
Speaker 1: man would be making every second.
Speaker 3: So yeah again, But you know that argument is as
Speaker 3: a member of the public, that argument is le in
Speaker 3: just to make it personal. That's less convincing to me
Speaker 3: because if you're somebody who has invested your money in
Speaker 3: one of these big hotel chains or whatever, you know
Speaker 3: they make big bucks. It's like you know the you
Speaker 3: know the guy that show, Hey Tani the Dodgers. He's
Speaker 3: a big superstar. So he's making seven hundred million dollars
Speaker 3: over ten years or what.
Speaker 4: You know. It's it's money that you and I can't
Speaker 4: even comprehend.
Speaker 3: It's stratospheric, okay, because he can do something that that
Speaker 3: most people can't, you know, hit fifty home runs and
Speaker 3: pitched and all of that. Let's take a break. Let's
Speaker 3: see what people have to say about the contract. I
Speaker 3: got to tell you, I have a lot of empathy
Speaker 3: for union people who are doing this sort of work
Speaker 3: because when I go to a hotel, whether it's in
Speaker 3: Boston or somewhere else, I want that room to be clean.
Speaker 3: When I have a meal at the hotel, I want
Speaker 3: to make sure that the meal is as good as
Speaker 3: it can be. I'm sure you're a very good cook,
Speaker 3: and you should be compensated fairly for what for what
Speaker 3: you do, particularly in the context of what the corporations
Speaker 3: can charge for the hotel guests who are in effect
Speaker 3: paying the bills. So I'm not in any way, shape
Speaker 3: or form adversarial to you. I want you to understand
Speaker 3: that I'm just asking questions. So that people will understand
Speaker 3: the situation that that you're, your colleagues, and the picket
Speaker 3: line find themselves and we'll take a break. Isaac, if
Speaker 3: people would like to call in and talk about it.
Speaker 3: Six one, seven, two, five, four ten thirty six one seven,
Speaker 3: nine three, one ten thirty. My name is Dan Ray.
Speaker 3: This is Nightside. I think it's important to get this
Speaker 3: stuff out in front of people so they understand that
Speaker 3: this is story. This is a story that affects real
Speaker 3: people who are actually working and doing jobs that are
Speaker 3: critical to the hotel industry. Back on Nightside with my
Speaker 3: guest right after this. His name is Isaac smith Kawa.
Speaker 2: Back after this, It's Nightside with Dan Ray on w
Speaker 2: Boston's news radio.
Speaker 3: We're talking about the Boston hotel workers strike. My guest
Speaker 3: is Isaac smith Kawa. He is a cook at the
Speaker 3: Omni Seaport Hotel and we have been trying to explain
Speaker 3: and I've been trying to understand better, uh, exactly what
Speaker 3: is at stake here. I'm assuming, Isaac that the inflation
Speaker 3: of the last four years or three and a half
Speaker 3: years up was of twenty percent has hurt your hotel,
Speaker 3: your colleagues and on the picket line as well as
Speaker 3: most Americans, because when I go to the grocery store,
Speaker 3: and I do go to the grocery store, everything is
Speaker 3: so much more expensive right now than it was four
Speaker 3: years ago. And I assume it has to be really
Speaker 3: tough on people who are not, you know, making a
Speaker 3: whole lot of money, but they're putting in a good
Speaker 3: day's work, meaning your hotel workers.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Inflation, I mean, like you said, inflation is hitting
Speaker 1: everyone in this country like very hard, and it's you know,
Speaker 1: it's we're all we And the way I see it
Speaker 1: is that everyone's at a point where, you know, we
Speaker 1: can't handle it anymore. Everyone we everyone needs more money,
Speaker 1: and everyone's struggling to pay the rent. Everyone's struggling to
Speaker 1: get food at the grocery store. And me and my
Speaker 1: brothers and sisters in the union are just lucky to
Speaker 1: be in a position where, you know, we have the
Speaker 1: backing of a union and we can exercise our rights
Speaker 1: to collective action and take it into our own hands.
Speaker 3: You know what I'm you know, what I'm saying to you, Isaac,
Speaker 3: is when you and I go to the grocery store
Speaker 3: and we see a you know, a dozen eggs that
Speaker 3: you know, a couple of years ago might have cost
Speaker 3: a buck ninety nine, uh and are now costing four
Speaker 3: thirty nine. Or you know a box of cookies that
Speaker 3: would have been two ninety nine or now for ninety nine.
Speaker 3: The folks who's the billionaire that owns the hotel? That
Speaker 3: doesn't impact them, I mean it impacts it.
Speaker 4: They notice it.
Speaker 3: It's like it's like someone, you know, the mosquito bite
Speaker 3: on an elephant, but it you know, for your for
Speaker 3: your colleagues, uh, and for most people, uh, that that
Speaker 3: takes a big bite out of your paycheck. Let's see
Speaker 3: if we get some phone calls. You're going to start
Speaker 3: it off with Paul, who's calling in from Nantasket. Paul,
Speaker 3: Welcome to Night Side, and we're on with hotel worker
Speaker 3: on strike, Isaac Smith Colwall.
Speaker 6: Go right ahead, Paul, Hey, Dan, how you doing good?
Speaker 4: Sir?
Speaker 1: Good?
Speaker 6: So he sounds like it doesn't want to give you
Speaker 6: an ant. It sounds like Kamela Harris actually doesn't want
Speaker 6: to give you.
Speaker 4: That's not fair way he gave me an answery.
Speaker 3: You know, I know that he's he's limited in terms
Speaker 3: of what he can he can express. But but I
Speaker 3: I asked him what they workers were making on average,
Speaker 3: that's an average, and he said, you know, somewhere in
Speaker 3: the twenties dollars an hour.
Speaker 4: And and I asked him about.
Speaker 3: What they're looking for, uh, in terms of compensation over
Speaker 3: the course of a he told me that they normally
Speaker 3: negotiate a four year packed and I, you know, he
Speaker 3: did say they looking for a record raise, and I
Speaker 3: suspect that it'd be somewhere, you know, in the thirty
Speaker 3: percent or more area. And he acknowledged that. I'm you know,
Speaker 3: and so I you know, they're in it. He's limited
Speaker 3: a little bit what he can say. What what's your
Speaker 3: question for him, Paul? I mean, don't don't, Paul, don't
Speaker 3: what hold in business?
Speaker 6: And if I go up my rates so much, you
Speaker 6: don't get the business like you're supposed to get. So
Speaker 6: some of these rooms are going to you know, they
Speaker 6: will two or three hundred. Now they're going to be
Speaker 6: five or six hundred. The guy didn't go up in
Speaker 6: the rates because because he just wanted to go up.
Speaker 6: He went up in the rates because everything around him
Speaker 6: is costing the money. So you're going to give it
Speaker 6: the own a little credit, so you know sometimes the
Speaker 6: prices that that charge based on what it costs to
Speaker 6: run the place, the taxes, the stuffy.
Speaker 4: Paul hold on, I'm I'm I'm listening what you're saying.
Speaker 4: But I wanted to stand where you're coming from. Uh,
Speaker 4: And I said, you can participate.
Speaker 3: Here if you want at any At any point, my
Speaker 3: point was.
Speaker 4: Was this ball that this union.
Speaker 3: They had their last contract settled in twenty eighteen, and
Speaker 3: it's a four year deal, so it should have been
Speaker 3: negotiated in twenty twenty two because but because COVID was
Speaker 3: still going on, the union agreed to extend the contract
Speaker 3: without a raise for two years.
Speaker 4: So now they're they're basically trying to say, hey, we've
Speaker 4: been a raised in six years.
Speaker 3: Hotel rates have gone up during those six years, and
Speaker 3: yet what the un, what the union members have been.
Speaker 4: Paid, hasn't gone up.
Speaker 3: That's that's what I think the union's saying. Am I correct,
Speaker 3: Isaac or no? If I'm wrong?
Speaker 1: Correct, No, that's no, that's one hundred percent. And also
Speaker 1: you point to the room like the room rates going
Speaker 1: up to adjust the to help with the cost of
Speaker 1: covering stuff. I mean, these room rates have gone up
Speaker 1: In saying and insane amount. The hotels are making record
Speaker 1: profits and we haven't gotten a raise. It's not it's
Speaker 1: not to cover operation costs go into their pocket. So
Speaker 1: it's like, why would I get Why would I give
Speaker 1: them a little grace when they're making, like I said,
Speaker 1: billions of dollars and me and my co workers can't
Speaker 1: afford groceries. Why why would I give grace to that?
Speaker 1: Would you give grace to that?
Speaker 6: And you're in the situation, well, none of us, none
Speaker 6: of us can afford all these high prices. So it's
Speaker 6: getting out of control. So I mean what I mean,
Speaker 6: so why so why should we not?
Speaker 1: So? Why should we not? Why why should we not
Speaker 1: fight to be able to afford it? Right? Like, if
Speaker 1: you just said that I can afford it, right, well, the.
Speaker 3: One one at a time, Paul, let him finish and
Speaker 3: I'll get you back.
Speaker 4: Are you finished, Isaac?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm just I'm just wondering, if you're saying that
Speaker 1: that no one can afford these prices, why should we
Speaker 1: not be fighting to be able to afford it. I'm
Speaker 1: just confused as to where you're coming from. You're you're
Speaker 1: defending very rich people who it doesn't affect and the
Speaker 1: people who you're who you are sharing the same problem
Speaker 1: with our standing up for ourselves and fighting to get
Speaker 1: that raise, and you're over here criticizing. I just don't
Speaker 1: understand it.
Speaker 4: Paul.
Speaker 3: Let me ask you a question if I could, in
Speaker 3: all fairness and not too many wise guys. Are you
Speaker 3: have you gotten a raise since twenty eighteen or no?
Speaker 3: I have no idea what type of work you do.
Speaker 6: And it doesn't mean I got my own business. I'm
Speaker 6: in construction, so I got my own business.
Speaker 1: But are you Let me.
Speaker 4: Let me ask you this. Are you?
Speaker 3: Are you earning more money this year than you were
Speaker 3: in twenty eighteen? And again, you're working hard. I'm not
Speaker 3: denying you that. Okay, you have a right with your
Speaker 3: hard work to be compensated, you know more. Are you
Speaker 3: making more now than you did in twenty eighteen?
Speaker 1: No?
Speaker 6: And the reason is the price of fuel, the price
Speaker 6: of the costs of insurance, boot cross the shield, you go.
Speaker 6: Those are all long profits that you just keep going
Speaker 6: up every year. So everyone's you got to remember, everyone's
Speaker 6: paying all these extra things. So I don't mind him
Speaker 6: getting a raise. But I mean when he said record raise, record,
Speaker 6: he did say.
Speaker 3: A record raise, but they haven't had a race for
Speaker 3: six years. I don't know what in the what in
Speaker 3: the past. If I could ask you, Isaac, what has
Speaker 3: the union won for example, like in the again you
Speaker 3: told me you weren't in the union in twenty eighteen,
Speaker 3: but do you have any idea what they got in
Speaker 3: the last contract with the union?
Speaker 1: So I can't speak exactly to the last contract, but
Speaker 1: what I discussed earlier is like we won, we won
Speaker 1: our good healthcare plan that was in two thousand and six.
Speaker 1: I believe same with our pension plan. Right, So these
Speaker 1: are these are you know these especially and this kid's
Speaker 1: close to me because hits close to home for me,
Speaker 1: especially as someone who works in the culinary industry, Like
Speaker 1: I've never had like good insurance through a job. You know,
Speaker 1: this is something that you were just talking about how
Speaker 1: insurance detuctibles have gone up. This is something that you
Speaker 1: know a lot of a lot of line cooks, a
Speaker 1: lot of bartenders, a lot of servers have never had before. Right,
Speaker 1: So we we we've we've achieved a lot in these
Speaker 1: contracts and it's but it's a lot for us, and
Speaker 1: it's basic basic privileges that a lot of other people
Speaker 1: in this country and around the world get to enjoy it.
Speaker 3: So yeah, again, I want to give Paul a last
Speaker 3: word here. Paul, I wasn't trying to catch you off.
Speaker 3: I'm just where from where I'm sitting. I don't begrudge
Speaker 3: the folks who are doing the hard work at the hotel.
Speaker 6: Arrays and means.
Speaker 3: I mean, one of the things that always I try
Speaker 3: to do when I go to a hotel. You know,
Speaker 3: when you check in and someone walks you through the room,
Speaker 3: you're giving them a ten dollars tip or something, which
Speaker 3: is fine, But when you leave, you know a lot
Speaker 3: of people don't leave a few bucks on the table
Speaker 3: for the for the person who's been cleaning the room
Speaker 3: for two or three days, and that's a tougher job.
Speaker 6: You're gonna always have chisels, you know, I mean, the
Speaker 6: people they just chisel everything. So you're not going to
Speaker 6: have to stop those people anyway saying that sometimes they
Speaker 6: don't want to leave, you know that it makes a
Speaker 6: big difference.
Speaker 3: Well, what all I'm just saying is that that we
Speaker 3: should appreciate. You know, many of these hotels you go into,
Speaker 3: and their spectacular hotels, they charge a lot of money.
Speaker 3: If you know, if you happen to be on the
Speaker 3: corporate card and you travel and you you you know, you.
Speaker 4: Could afford them. It doesn't matter. You're not really paying
Speaker 4: for the companies paying for them. I'm just saying we
Speaker 4: should be fair to the workers as well. Paul.
Speaker 6: I give you a I'm always I'm fair to my workers.
Speaker 6: I've had people here thirty forty years, they've been working.
Speaker 6: How many people, Paul, workers?
Speaker 3: Paul, let me ask, I want to give you some credit.
Speaker 3: How how many people do you employ?
Speaker 1: Well?
Speaker 6: Twenty, it's not bad.
Speaker 3: So you you provide a job for twenty people. I'll
Speaker 3: ask you this question, Paul, who's the last person that
Speaker 3: gets paid every every week or every other week in
Speaker 3: your company? I bet I know what the answer is?
Speaker 6: Me me, because that will take a check some weeks
Speaker 6: to make sure everyone gets paid.
Speaker 3: Yeah, there are friends of mine who are in business
Speaker 3: and they are always the last ones who get paid
Speaker 3: because you got to pay the workers. And that's a sexual.
Speaker 1: Go ahead, Isaac, Yeah, that's uh. I mean you you
Speaker 1: said it beautifully. That's exactly what I'm saying. See like that.
Speaker 1: I have respect for you. Paul. You're a small business owner,
Speaker 1: and you're you're out here taking hits, not even taking
Speaker 1: a check some week to make sure that your workers
Speaker 1: are getting fairly compensated and getting paid. Right. So the
Speaker 1: person who owns my hotel would never even think of
Speaker 1: doing something like that, right, That's why we're out here,
Speaker 1: because we've been trying to negotiate a fair raise and
Speaker 1: fair rates for like almost the better part of a
Speaker 1: year now. Like, I don't want to be out here
Speaker 1: banging the drum in the cold, right, I'd rather be
Speaker 1: doing what I love, cooking for the guests, making people happy. Right.
Speaker 1: But at the end of the day, you gotta you gotta,
Speaker 1: you gotta stand up for something or your fault for anything,
Speaker 1: and clothes mouts don't get fed. That's that's all it is,
Speaker 1: all right.
Speaker 6: Hey, Yeah, did the workers ever think of, oh, the
Speaker 6: union ever think of even taking a hotel and try
Speaker 6: and running yourself.
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm not the president of the union, so
Speaker 1: I can't really answer that. I think it'd be a
Speaker 1: good idea.
Speaker 6: Yeah, Sometimes sometimes the work is gonna get together and say, hey,
Speaker 6: let's try to run it ourselves, and you really see
Speaker 6: how it is to run sometimes, But you know, it's
Speaker 6: business is tough, and we haven't recovered from the pandemic.
Speaker 6: And uh, the pandemic cause a lot of people kill
Speaker 6: the hotels. They lost a lot of money in those days,
Speaker 6: and they're trying to probably make the recovery now. But
Speaker 6: those days he had, the guy you worked for, he
Speaker 6: might have lost a lot of money in them days
Speaker 6: and days. Also, don't forget look at this.
Speaker 1: Whether it seems like the eightiest richest person in the country,
Speaker 1: he's not hurting.
Speaker 3: You can learn, gentleman, I got I gotta make some
Speaker 3: money and take a commerce shall break here.
Speaker 1: Hey, hey, we're talking about money, make yours.
Speaker 6: Broy That was a great talk, I tell you, that's
Speaker 6: all I like to hear. And I'm I'm with you, guys.
Speaker 6: I hope you get a raise, but you know, maybe
Speaker 6: you should get to a point where you know you
Speaker 6: can get back to work. And everyone tries to get
Speaker 6: a little little money and uh, and you're gonna keep
Speaker 6: you said. The city just they just want to they
Speaker 6: want to change the tax rate. They want to charge
Speaker 6: like hotels more than they chadge the regular homeowner, you know,
Speaker 6: who owns a house. So the city of Boston's not
Speaker 6: not coroporating with a lot of the businesses either.
Speaker 3: By the way, just for the record, the company that
Speaker 3: owns the Omni Hotels, it's called t RT Holdings. It's
Speaker 3: a private holding company based in Dallas, Texas that owns
Speaker 3: hotel chain Omni Hotels origins behavioral healthcare and many investments
Speaker 3: in other companies. Was founded in nineteen eighty nine. So
Speaker 3: the it's funny here, I guess. In nineteen eighty three,
Speaker 3: Dunfee Hotels acquired the small Atlanta based Omni International Hotels
Speaker 3: chained from some other company called Cousin's Property. That chain
Speaker 3: had been formed in seventy three and consisted of three
Speaker 3: hotels in Atlanta, Norfolk, and Miami. So those hotels were
Speaker 3: bought by Dunfie Hotels, which in turn must have been
Speaker 3: bought by this big holding company TRT Holding. So it's
Speaker 3: always interesting to drill down a little bit here and
Speaker 3: find out, you know, who owns the hotel that you're
Speaker 3: staying at.
Speaker 4: Hey, Paul, I enjoyed your phone call. I appreciate your calling.
Speaker 3: Both of you seem to have more in common I
Speaker 3: think than either one of you realized. Thanks Paul, talk
Speaker 3: to you Land. Thanks Thank you much. We will be
Speaker 3: back with Isaac Smith CoA who is a chef at
Speaker 3: the Omni Seaport Hotel. He and about seven hundred said
Speaker 3: seven hundred at this point of thirteen hundred, it's thirteen hundred, right,
Speaker 3: thirteen hundred hotel workers.
Speaker 4: Are on strike. This strike going to be delayed?
Speaker 3: Or are you staying out of the picket line until
Speaker 3: this this situation is resolved.
Speaker 1: Hey, I'm gonna do what needs to be done.
Speaker 4: Man, you know, just tell me what, tell me what
Speaker 4: is the plant? If the plant's published.
Speaker 1: That's what I'm saying. I'm out. I'm out here for
Speaker 1: the long haul. Man. I'm out here until I get
Speaker 1: what's mine. I'm gout.
Speaker 4: I'm out to get. What I'm saying is that position?
Speaker 4: Is that the position of the union is what I'm because.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we yeah, we we authorize the open ended strikes.
Speaker 1: Like enough.
Speaker 3: You know what all I'm trying to do is tell
Speaker 3: your story. Man, Just you know, I think you're suspicious
Speaker 3: of me. I'm actually trying to help you out. We'll
Speaker 3: take a quick break. My name is Dan Raid. This
Speaker 3: is Nightside. If you'd like to join the conversation. Six
Speaker 3: months seven, two thirty six, seven, nine, three, one, ten
Speaker 3: thirty back on night Side after this.
Speaker 2: Live from the Window World Nights SIEN Studios, I'BZ News Radio.
Speaker 4: Well, as often happens the lines of packs.
Speaker 3: So we're going to try to get a couple of
Speaker 3: you in, but those who called late, we may not
Speaker 3: make it. John and Salem, I'm not sure John, if
Speaker 3: it's Salem mass So Salem new him to go ahead, John.
Speaker 7: Yeah, how you doing so much? I give all my
Speaker 7: respect to the unions as well, and I was a
Speaker 7: union worker before, but something happened to me that today
Speaker 7: when I was driving downtown Boston, I heard the chant
Speaker 7: one job for all, and I started listening to what
Speaker 7: that really meant. And I started talking to people, and
Speaker 7: they seem to be offended that they have to go
Speaker 7: out and work another job at night to make ends meet,
Speaker 7: and they want to be able to make a living
Speaker 7: wage and support the family on just eight hours a day.
Speaker 7: And all of a sudden, I broke down crying because
Speaker 7: I watched my father come home from his day job
Speaker 7: at a hot leather factory, then go out at night
Speaker 7: and work, and then have my mother work all night
Speaker 7: long just to make ends meet, and we're talking about
Speaker 7: the sixties and seventies, and that's what we're going to do.
Speaker 7: That's what we've got to respect each other for.
Speaker 4: Okay, John, I appreciate your perspective.
Speaker 6: You but you gotta do what you gotta do.
Speaker 4: Thank you, John, appreciate you calling.
Speaker 3: Thank you very much. Let me go to another John.
Speaker 3: This John's in Boston, John, and Boston got to be quick.
Speaker 3: You've called in really late.
Speaker 8: Go ahead, John, all right, thanks sn Yeah, I just
Speaker 8: wondered about I mean, you guys are trying to get
Speaker 8: the piece of the pie things like. To me, the
Speaker 8: issue is universal healthcare, not worrying about you know, AARP
Speaker 8: fights for against poverty in old age under earning a
Speaker 8: social security system that is fairer than it is now.
Speaker 8: They're getting a raise, it's not going to be that
Speaker 8: much at all. So anyway, those are just some thought.
Speaker 4: Okay.
Speaker 1: You know in.
Speaker 8: Europe you get three quarters of what you were making
Speaker 8: when you quit when you retire. I mean, here you
Speaker 8: fall way down this systemic and it's just this isn't
Speaker 8: the answer, I don't think. But anyway, thank you.
Speaker 4: Okay, thank you. John Well said we could have gotten
Speaker 4: one more in but that's okay. We're kind of up
Speaker 4: against it right now, Isaac. Best of luck with the strike.
Speaker 3: Feel free to keep us posted on you how you're
Speaker 3: doing here. I'm going to ask you one final question.
Speaker 3: If you give me a quick answer, that'd be great.
Speaker 3: If you can't, no problem. What do you think overall
Speaker 3: the overall salary is for a hotel worker in greater Boston,
Speaker 3: in Boston within your union? Are we talking about someone
Speaker 3: making thirty thousand a year thirty five thousand a year?
Speaker 3: What do you think the salary the overall salary is unaverage?
Speaker 1: I honestly don't have an average off the top of
Speaker 1: my head. Man, I'm sorry about that.
Speaker 4: Not even not even a guess.
Speaker 1: I mean, I know what I make, but I'm not
Speaker 1: really in other people's pockets like that.
Speaker 4: What do you how much do you make as a cook?
Speaker 1: Hey, you'll got to worry about that, bro.
Speaker 4: Do me a favor.
Speaker 3: Well, if you don't want to answer question, and you know,
Speaker 3: I'm really not your bro, I'm just trying to ask
Speaker 3: and help you out here and develop some I think
Speaker 3: when you don't answer questions like that, people become somewhat suspicious.
Speaker 4: So look, thanks for doing it. I tried to help
Speaker 4: you as much as I could.
Speaker 3: I wish you had been a little more forthcoming with me,
Speaker 3: because I think you would have won the support of
Speaker 3: a lot more people in all honesty, but thanks very
Speaker 3: much for being on.
Speaker 1: Yeah, thanks for having me Dan. It was a great conversation.
Speaker 3: Yep, right back at you have a good one. All right,
Speaker 3: here comes here eleven o'clock news. We will talk about
Speaker 3: it on the other side.