Strike hurts Detroit Westin Book Cadillac

Specifically, they want the same pay rates as the employees at the Marriott Renaissance Center.

The Cadillac Book is more profitable than the Renaissance Center, trade unionists said, but they earn an average of $ 2 to $ 3 an hour for similar jobs. Employees of the Marriott Renaissance Center also contribute less to their salary for employer-sponsored health care.

"They should pay everyone the same in all areas," said Patcas.

The 418-room Cadillac Book, located at 1114 Washington Blvd., was kept open during the walkout with the help of officials, replacements and hoteliers who did not participate in the strike. The strikers, although noisy, let the hotel guests enter and exit unhindered.

According to the union, about 90 percent of Book Cadillac's 160 unionized workers participated in the strike. This includes Starbucks staff from the hotel. However, the restaurants of the Michael Symon Hotel Roast and Grill 24 are separate businesses and are not involved in the labor dispute.

In addition, Marriott does not operate the 62 condominium apartments located on the upper floors of the hotel.

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More than 130 union workers in Detroit have been on strike at the Westin Book Cadillac since last month. In the rain, on Thursday, November 1, 2018, a handful of them scroll past the main entrance to the sound of a drum that beats. (Photo: Eric Seals, Detroit Free Press)

Who canceled?

The following groups have canceled banquets and / or hotel rooms at Book Cadillac since the beginning of the strike:

In addition, musician Elton John modified his hotel plans last month to avoid staying at the Book Cadillac during his visit to Detroit, union members said.

"So we received a lot of support," said Kirsten Bednarczyk, who has been working at the hotel since it reopened in 2008. "This morning alone, a guy came in and said:" J " I was going to stay here, but I did not know that you were on strike, he pulled out his phone and he went on Expedia. "

Some groups have kept their bookings. The union's Twitter account contains a video of Oct. 8 strikers on the picket line that shout "shame on you" at members of the NBA's Brooklyn nets in front of the hotel.

Representatives of the Brooklyn Nets and Toronto Maple Leafs declined to comment on this article.

Neither the Cadillac Book nor Marriott International has responded to requests for comment. And the owner of Cleveland-based Cleveland-based The Westin Book Cadillac, also did not respond.

The Cadillac Book Strike is one of 23 strikes that take place in the country's Marriott hotels under the slogan "One Job Should Be Enough". The other hotels are located in Boston, San Diego, San Francisco, Oakland, California, San Jose, California and Hawaii.

The Cadillac Book is one of the former hotels managed by Starwood Hotels and Resorts that Marriott acquired when it acquired Starwood in 2016 for $ 13 billion. The hoteliers' last contract of employment was prior to the Marriott agreement and expired on June 30th.

Emotions are going well

Book Cadillac's picket line sometimes provoked intense emotions, where the Detroit police allowed the strikers to make noise and beat drums from 7am to 8pm.

A foggy morning earlier this week, a well-dressed woman approached the hotel and saw wooden poles carrying "On Strike" signs as well as the men's pickets and of women wearing rain ponchos surrounding the entrance.

She turned around and asked if the hotel was open.

"They are open to scabs and leeches," said Patcas, the union organizer, referring to replacement workers and workers who did not pay union dues and did not participate in the strike.

Patcas, speaking to a journalist, said that replacements for unionized workers should not be too comfortable with their new jobs.

"People can cross our line and think that they are getting sustainable jobs, but they will not last long because we will come back," she said.

Last month, Detroit City Council passed a resolution in favor of striking workers at Book Cadillac. The resolution calls Marriott officials to recognize "that economic equity for workers benefits the entire community, including at the hotel as an employer and member of the community. local community ".

The Book Cadillac hotel opened in 1924 and closed in the mid-1980s, deteriorating to the point of becoming a ruin. It reopened in 2008 as a result of a massive $ 180 million redevelopment involving multiple complex funding levels.

The hotel owner, Ferchill Group, refinanced the property last summer.

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