Joey, a former hotel worker in Providence, RI and a member of What Cheer? Brigade, decided to go out with a bang after his complaints about workplace conditions allegedly went unheard by management.
The working conditions in the hotel are horrendous. In the kitchen, workers are regularly forced to work 10, 11, 14, 16 hour shifts that begin at 5:30AM and last well into the night. Housekeepers are reprimanded if they fail to clean 16 rooms or more in a 9 hour shift. Anyone who speaks up—especially anyone who is openly pro-union—is disciplined or fired. Managers, like Jared, scream down employees daily.
I worked extremely hard to change the conditions in the hotel. My co-workers and I regularly organized ourselves to push back against management and demand respect. I was also one of many workers who led the fight to organize a formal union at the hotel.
The hotel has yet to recognize our union, and they continue a vicious union-busting campaign. They punish and fire pro-union workers, spread lies in captive-audience meetings, and generally attempt to scare the workers out of joining the union. Still, through just being organized and threatening to form a union, we’ve won countless victories, including raises, new uniforms, lower housekeeper room quotas, etc.
Whether or not the allegations are true, Joey certainly found quite a memorable way to quit his job.
[via Laughing Squid]