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THE CAMPAIGN
UNITE HERE Local 1 brought together workers, religious leaders, students and other community members in a broad coalition to demand respect for worker rights at the hotel planned on the Doctor's Hospital site. The campaign began when a worker in a non-union Chicago-area White Lodging run property risked retaliation in her workplace by speaking out at a community meeting about White Lodging’s refusal to abide by the Illinois Housekeeping Break Law. The campaign continued as Southside hotel workers met with their alderman to seek a guarantee for a fair process for workers at the planned hotel to join a union. Religious leaders condemned the discrimination and worker rights abuses that are status quo for White Lodging Services Corporation. Students from the University of Chicago, including SOUL, canvassed to inform the Hyde Park community about the conduct of White Lodging. So far this coalition has moved the south side community to halt White Lodging’s plans to open an anti-worker, anti-union hotel in Hyde Park. Due to the coalition’s work the White Lodging hotel proposal has not been approved by the City. However, the campaign continues as White Lodging continues to work on development projects both in Hyde Park elsewhere in the city: this campaign will not be over until White Lodging commits to respecting worker rights in its hotels.
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