Elsewhere in North America the Unite Here labour union is losing members to a break away rival, but in B.C., the 8,000 hospitality workers represented by Unite Here Local 40 aren’t going anywhere, says a spokesperson.

Local 40 is the second largest Canadian Unite Here division, representing hotel, casino, restaurant and other hospitality workers in B.C.

Yesterday, The Hook reported that 150,000 Unite Here workers across North America had voted to break away from the union, which counts 400,000 members.

Based on an earlier press release from Unite Here’s Ontario Council, we reported that union members in Ontario, Manitoba, Quebec and B.C. had already voted to leave. Attempts at the time to reach representatives at both Local 40 and the B.C. Joint Council, the union's other division in B.C., were unsuccessful.

Now The Hook has learned that the only Unite Here members in B.C. pulling away from the union are 190 members from the union’s B.C. Joint Council – but none from Local 40.

“Local 40 did not have a union-wide vote . . . it was not considered an issue,” said the local’s communications representative Michelle Travis. “Our commitment is to Unite Here.”

The union has been successful in solidifying strong contracts with employers, said Lynn Flandera, director of Local 40.

“Through the course of the last two years, we've won strong contracts for downtown hotel workers that set new standards for housekeeping workload reduction [and] new standards for wages.”

The B.C. Joint Council, the division that voted to leave, represents 190 workers in the textile and garment industries in the province.

One of the main reasons for the vote was because of the lack of attention the Joint Council receives in relation to Local 40, said Vas Gunaratna, the Joint Council’s director.

Understanding that its membership is dwarfed by the much larger Local 40, Gunaratna said he does not think they should be treated differently because of it.

“It should not matter if you look at one person or a thousand people. We all pay union dues and basically we should be treated with equality,” he said.

The B.C. Joint Council will meet Saturday to consider joining other splinter groups under a new union called Workers United.

Morgan J. Modjeski is a reporter for The Hook.