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Vancouver hotel says it's open to negotiation with union after lunch-hour strike

The Hyatt Regency hotel says it is "disappointed" unionized workers walked out on a lunch-hour strike Thursday after over a year of stalled negotiations.

Workers including room attendants, chefs and front-desk agents from three high-end Vancouver hotels are demanding safe and stable work.

Unite Here Local 40 said the walkout from workers from the Hyatt Regency, Westin Bayshore and Pinnacle Harbourfront hotels comes after 14 months of talks without significant progress on issues related to workload, safety and job security.

In an emailed statement, Michael D'Angelo, vice president of labour relations at Hyatt, said the Vancouver hotel is willing to meet at the negotiating table.

He said the hotel has proposed an "unprecedented" 15 per cent pay increase over a four-year period as well as "stronger health and safety resources," including personal distress devices.

Unite Here rejected those offers, D'Angelo said.

"Hyatt Regency Vancouver is disappointed that Unite Here elected to call a strike while negotiations continued," he said.

In an email Saturday, Unite Here Local 40 president Zailda Chan said the union remains willing to negotiate.

In a statement on Thursday, the union said many of the hotel workers are struggling to provide for their families while working precarious, on-call shifts it says are caused by the "systemic" cutting of hotel hours.

Safety and complaints of sexual harassment within the industry are also a major issues in the dispute.

Maggie MacPherson/CBC
Maggie MacPherson/CBC