FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JOSEFRO...@aol.com
NEWS ADVISORY for Monday, June 14, 2010
For questions please contact Annemarie Strassel, Communications Coordinator at (312) 617-0495.
Gutierrez to honor Congress Hotel Strikers at 7th Anniversary Rally
WHAT: Rally to honor 7-Year Anniversary of Congress Hotel Strike, the longest hotel strike in American history.
WHO: Strikers from the Congress Hotel
Hundreds of UNITE HERE Local 1 members and community supporters
Special Guest Speaker: Congressman Luis Gutierrez
WHERE:
In front of the
Congress Hotel – Congress & Michigan Ave.
WHEN: Monday, June 14, 2010, 4:00-6:00 p.m.
WHY: Strike History: On June 15, 2003, members of UNITE HERE Local 1 working at the Congress Hotel went out on strike after the hotel decided to freeze wages and slash benefits. To ensure that hotel jobs in this city are strong, family-sustaining jobs, Congress strikers have taken the fight to the streets of Chicago, New York, the Philippines, and around the world.
Immigrant Workers Fighting to Raise Job Standards in Chicago: America was built by immigrants, who came here and fought to make jobs in this country better. The Congress Hotel strikers continue that tradition today.
An overwhelming majority of the courageous individuals who have led the longest hotel strike in American history at the Congress Hotel are immigrants to the United States. Working families in Chicago have made astounding gains in recent years because the Congress strikers have refused to settle for substandard wages. At the time that the strike began, Chicago housekeepers were just $8.83 an hour, compared $14.60 an hour today. The strikers at the Congress Hotel stand as a powerful example of how immigrant workers in the United States are leading the fight to raise standards for low-wage workers in the service industry and beyond.
VISUALS: Hundreds of people on Michigan Ave. sidewalk, streets; UNITE HERE red shirts and signs
UNITE HERE Local 1, Chicago’s hospitality workers union, represents over 15,000 hotel and food service workers in Chicago and casino workers in Northwest Indiana.
For more information on the strike, go to PresidentPicketsCongress.org.
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