nothin Hotel Worker Recall Law Wins Final OK | New Haven Independent

Hotel Worker Recall Law Wins Final OK

Laura Glesby photo

Housekeeper Everlana Allen with fellow workers at a protest outside the Omni earlier this year.

With promises to combat racism as a public health crisis and protect the economic livelihoods of working-class New Haveners, alders unanimously approved a new recall law” that requires local hotels give laid-off former employees first dibs at returning to their old jobs.

The Board of Alders took that vote Monday night during the local legislature’s latest bimonthly meeting.

The virtual meeting took place on Zoom and YouTube Live.

Zoom

Monday night’s Board of Alders virtual meeting.

The new law represents perhaps the most direct local legislative response yet to the widespread economic fallout caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

It requires local hotels that have 50 or more rooms to offer to rehire employees who have been laid off during the pandemic as soon as their old jobs or similar jobs are available again.

Local hotel operators must prioritize rehiring former employees based on their seniority.

And laid-off workers who believe their former employer has violated this new law can sue their respective former employers in state court.

East Rock Alder and Legislation Committee Chair Charles Decker kicked off what would be a common refrain among the bill’s backers Monday night. He stated that the hotel industry has been disproportionately hard hit by the pandemic. He said that the industry’s workers are disproportionately Black and Hispanic and female. He noted the many workers who have suffered from unemployment and lost healthcare have zero control over the pandemic that cost them their jobs.

Earlier this year, he continued, in the wake of George Floyd’s murder by a Minneapolis police officer and a subsequent nationwide uprising against police brutality, the Board of Alders joined dozens of cities around the country in declaring racism a public health crisis.

This ordinance is one concrete step to address this crisis.”

Supporters: Working Towards A More Equitable” Recovery

Thomas Breen photo

The Omni Hotel on Temple Street.

Alder after alder who followed Decker agreed.

None addressed the concerns raised by at least one outside legal expert that the recall law pushes the bounds of Connecticut employment law through a creative interpretation of local governments’ state-imbued right to promote the general welfare.”

Instead, they zeroed in on the economic hurt they have seen first-hand in the communities they represent. That hurt has been borne overwhelmingly by working class Black and Hispanic women, alders said. And the local legislature must do what it can to address that harm.

Studies show that violence is linked to poverty and a lack of opportunity,” said Beaver Hills Alder Jill Marks. And back in June, the Washington Post reported that one in three Black adults knew someone who had died from Covid.

The workers recall bill will help laid-off hotel workers and it will help families in New Haven sleep better at night,” she said.

Hill Alder Carmen Rodriguez quoted a recent New Haven Register op-ed by University of St. Louis health law professor Ruqaiijah Yearby about the potential public health benefits of such a worker recall law.

People often lose access to health insurance when they are laid off and are subsequently unable to get healthcare they need, she said. Hotel workers are more likely to be Black and Latino, and the loss of a job creates increased stress and anxiety among already vulnerable populations. And experienced employees are more likely to comply with public safety guidelines and to speak up if violations occur.

This is a time of enormous pain in our city, and we need to be taking all action possible to give families stability,” Rodriguez said.

Such a law takes a step towards making our recovery from Covid more equitable in the city.”

Wooster Square Alder Ellen Cupo said that, while the pandemic has hit so many parts of the city’s and country’s economy, it has decimated the hospitality industry,” with nearly 40 percent of leisure and hospitality workers nationwide reporting being laid off this spring.

And while Black and Hispanic people make up 29.9 percent of the total national workforce, she said, they make up 49 percent of the traveler accommodation sector.

We are approaching a very painful winter for our neighbors. This ordinance is one step out of many that we as a city can take to make our recovery rom this disease more just.”

West Rock/West Hills Alder Honda Smith said that she had an opportunity last week to listen to a group of local hotel workers tell their stories about getting laid off and struggling during the pandemic.

Through the layoffs of all of these workers, they’re not just laid off, it puts a strain on their whole families.”

The last to speak before the alders took their unanimous vote of support, Dixwell Alder Jeanette Morrison said that she used to work at a hotel, and knows firsthand how dedicated and hard-working hotel employees are.

They did not cause this pandemic,” she said. So they should not suffer by ways of not having employment because a job does not want to call them back. We have the ability to ensure that these workers, these staff, our residents, have money in their pockets to be able to take care of their families. In supporting this bill, you’re supporting our residents of New Haven to have dignity.”

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