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Ontario council adopts ordinance requiring personal safety devices for hotel housekeepers
Summary
The council voted 5-0 to adopt an ordinance requiring hotels to provide personal safety devices to housekeepers at no charge and to designate staff to respond to alerts; worker advocates said the city proposal falls short of a worker-drafted initiative and urged stronger anti-retaliation and training protections.
The Ontario City Council voted 5-0 to adopt an ordinance requiring hotels to provide personal safety devices to on-site hotel employees, primarily housekeepers, at no cost and to designate on-duty managers or security personnel as responsible for responding to device alerts.
City Manager (unnamed) told the council the ordinance “designate[s] or require[s] that a personal safety device be afforded to every 1 of the hotel employees at no charge” and described provisions allowing workers certain workplace accommodations during cleaning. The measure was presented as a narrow, enforceable set of safety practices rather than the broader package included in a separate voter initiative.
Union-affiliated hotel workers urged the council to decline the staff ordinance and adopt the worker-drafted initiative instead. Maria Garcia, who identified herself as a hotel worker at the DoubleTree and a member of Unite Here Local 11, said, “Please do not support item number 17. Please support the hotel safety regulations written by workers and signed by 15,000 Ontario voters that have been tried and have worked successfully in many other cities.” Natasha Wang, a union organizer, warned that the council proposal lacks the annual training and stronger anti-retaliation protections included in the voter initiative and asked, “Are you taking the issue of hotel worker safety seriously or are you not?”
Council members supporting the staff ordinance said it codified practical safety steps and would increase protections for vulnerable workers now. After brief discussion the motion to approve carried 5-0.
The ordinance’s text, as described in staff remarks, requires hotels to provide devices, designate responsible employees to respond to alerts, and make certain work-practice accommodations for housekeepers during room cleaning. City staff told the council the ordinance codifies the most “workable, practical parts” of the worker initiative but does not include all items in the initiative petition, such as some wage or record-keeping provisions.
What happens next: The ordinance takes effect according to the dates in its adopting resolution and city staff will oversee implementation. Worker advocates and organizers said they will continue to press for stronger protections through the ballot process and continued organizing.
Attribution: Quotations and attributions are taken from speakers who spoke during the public hearing and debate and are recorded in the council transcript.
