For 12 years, Loida Soriano’s job as an assistant cook at the Hyatt Regency on King St. has won her stability and a way to support her six siblings in the Philippines. But the city’s skyline is changing — and with it, Soriano’s employment prospects. “One day you see a hotel,” said the 44-year-old Toronto resident. “Next thing you see construction. We want security.” An estimated 2,500 unionized hotel jobs are at risk from condo redevelopments, according to a recent report from Unifor Local 7575, the union representing hospitality workers. Examples include the Courtyard Marriott on Yonge St. north of Carlton St., and the Chelsea Hotel at Yonge and Gerrard Sts., where condo developers have proposed significantly reducing the number of hotel rooms on site. Now, hotel workers are fighting for new job protections from their employers — and calling on the City of Toronto to step in.“If my job is secure, I don’t have to worry,” Soriano said.At the Bloor Marriott hotel in Yorkville, an early victory: members of Unifor Local 7575 have just won new measures that prevent the hotel from laying them off for at least three years due to possible condo redevelopments. Soriano, who is a member of her union’s collective bargaining team at the Hyatt, says she hopes to win the same provisions.“If they have it, we want it,” she said. Municipally, policies already exist to insulate downtown white collar workers from job losses: the city’s office replacement policy requires developers who want to repurpose a building to replace office square footage in order to get their application approved.Similarly, lands zoned as employment areas are “almost impossible to convert into condos,” says Thorben Wieditz, a researcher with Unifor Local 7575, which represents hospitality workers. But since hotels are designated as mixed-use properties, developers don’t need to meet the same ob ...
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