CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- As some businesses slowly begin to reopen and rehire staff, a newly introduced ordinance would ensure Chicago’s hotel workers aren’t left out.
It's called the Hotel Worker Right to Return to Work ordinance.
"The ordinance would require that as guests return and hotels increase their staffing, the hotels would reinstate previous workers to their positions," said Karen Kent, president of Unite Here Local 1.
Unite Here Local 1 is a union representing more than 16,000 hospitality workers in the Chicago area, many of whom have lost their jobs at hotels during the pandemic.
She calls the ordinance a way of helping a vulnerable group of people in a difficult time.
"There's people who are on the verge of losing their homes. People who have done whatever they needed to do to work and provide for their families," Kent said.
Kent called some of the stories “heartbreaking.”
“Imagine being told you’re fired, that you don’t have a job to come back to,” she said. “You’re thinking about where you’re going to go, how you’re going to pay bills or even keep a roof over your head.”
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The majority of the workers are women of color.
"Women have much harder time and we just want to make sure that, in particular older women and women of color who have dedicated their lives to their jobs, are able to return," she said.
Kent is hopeful with more City Council sponsorship the ordinance will move forward.
“There’s a number of folks who are sponsoring this but we invite all of Chicago’s City Council to sponsor this," Kent said.
"There's a very uncertain future...No one has been hit harder during this pandemic than women of color and those over 50 who have put decades into making these businesses successful.
“This is a great way to show that our values reflect that.”