Major Action Planned for Congress Hotel Strike One-year Anniversary
Over one thousand expected to attend rally and civil disobedience

WHAT: Congress Hotel Strike anniversary demonstration
WHO: Chicago’s labor and progressive community
WHERE: Outside the Congress Hotel, 520 S. Michigan Ave.
WHEN: Tuesday, June 15, 4-6 PM

On Tuesday, June 15th, over one thousand supporters will march on the Congress Plaza Hotel as dozens partake in a major civil disobedience on Michigan Avenue during rush hour. The event marks the one-year anniversary of Chicago’s first hotel strike, when Congress workers walked off the job in response to illegal wage cuts and other unfair labor practices committed by hotel management. Strikers will be joined by HERE General President John Wilhelm and community allies such as the Chicago Federation of Labor, the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Chicago Jobs with Justice, the Chicago Interfaith Committee on Worker Issues, Centro Sin Fronteras and ACORN.

“The Congress Hotel is a rogue employer with no respect for its workers, its customers or the Chicago community,” said Henry Tamarin, President of HERE Local 1. “After a year on strike, this once-grand hotel is now an embarrassment to the city’s hospitality industry.”

The Congress Hotel is owned by a limited partnership with includes investors Albert Nasser and Ivor Braka. Nasser resides in New York and Geneva, Switzerland, and is CEO and Chairman of Gelmart Industries, a major manufacturer of women’s undergarments. Braka is President of New York-based US Realty & Investment Co., whose affiliates own properties in New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Texas and Wisconsin, and have recently acquired properties in downtown Chicago.

Over the past year, hundreds of customers have complained about poor service and unsafe and unsanitary conditions at the hotel. HERE Local 1 estimates that the Congress Hotel has lost over $1 million in business since the strike.

“A year is a long time to be on strike,” adds Congress striker Sharon Williams. “But we’re going to be out there as long as it takes to win justice for ourselves and our families.”

Contact: Clare Fauke, 312-663-4373 x247; or cell 312-802-2302

Visit the HERE LOcal 1 strike website for background info.

Hotel Employees, Restaurant Employees Intenational Union, Local 1