Employer Retaliation Defeated by Chateau Laurier Cleaning Workers

Cleaning workers at the Chateau Laurier in Ottawa, employed by ServeGreen Cleaning Services and members of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 2, successfully bargained a new contract in July 2026. This came after a unanimous strike vote with only hours to the strike deadline, and with public support from other sectors of the labour movement. ServeGreen had, until then, refused to sign the Ottawa-wide union contract that includes 30 other cleaning companies which have better conditions for the same work. This was finally won after a strong bargaining campaign where member-organizers were involved in mobilizing the local for the strike threat. 

SEIU member and shop steward fired in retaliation by ServeGreen

Despite the workers’ efforts, ServeGreen would not allow even this mild militancy to go unpunished. The worker-organizer responsible for this mobilization was fired in retaliation. 

The union quickly mobilized in his defense through a campaign calling on the employer to reverse this illegal retaliatory firing, and held a rally on September 12 in front of the Chateau Laurier. The rally involved several sectors of the labour movement, including the striking Bank of Canada security guards who had been on strike for 82 days at that point, and continue to be on strike at the time of publishing. Supporters used an email template tool to send their demand to Chateau Laurier to hold their contractor, ServeGreen Cleaning, accountable for the illegal retaliation.

The manager of ServeGreen addressed the workers at the rally in front of the hotel citing disingenuous reasons for the firing, but the workers were undeterred, understanding clearly that he was simply lying to serve his class interest. The workers continued their chants of “bring him back” and “shame” following his address. After being confronted with an unwavering commitment to fight for his reinstatement, the manager claimed that actually, the fired worker has been called to come back to work but has not followed through. An awkward claim given the attendance of the worker-organizer at the rally, another blatant lie. Another SEIU organizer told the manager to put that offer in writing, and that verbal commitments are no commitments at all. The workers were not falling for the tricks of the capitalists. When confronted by workers’ demands, ServeGreen and its representative would rather lie than collaborate, finding ways to justify their encroachment of workers’ rights to organize and defend themselves.

Campaign for reinstatement succeeds due to collective action and solidarity

The campaign for his reinstatement was successful due to the power of collective action according to Local 2. The rally for reinstatement included participation from various unions and workers’ organizations including the Canadian Labour Congress, the Ottawa and District Labour Council, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the Public Service Alliance of Canada, the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation, Justice for Workers, the Communist Party of Canada, and the Young Communist League.

It must be noted that this was not won due to appeals to a “neutral body”, or to bring back a “fair playing field”. The democratic rights of association and union activity afforded to the cleaning workers at Chateau Laurier were taken, not granted. It is their organization and the real balance of forces between the labour movement and this capitalist which secured the cleaning workers their victory. All the rights (however limited) to organize that the working class of Canada enjoys have been won through struggle, not through a “recognition of justice” by the ruling capitalist class. The ability to appeal to a legal right to organize is only the result of previous struggle, and without the organizational capacity of the workers being maintained, that legal right loses its teeth. Fortunately for the cleaning workers, they had been building their capacity, and could enforce it. Although the general trend across Canada for the past 50 years has been the deterioration of this right due to the falling density of union membership, particularly in the private sector, this victory shows that the base for worker mobilization is there, and the fight for better workers’ rights will carry on regardless of the barriers imposed by the bourgeois state.