Guaranteed return to work for Hilton Vancouver Metrotown workers

Douglas College student research essay submitted as partial requirement for Philosophy 1122 course as part of the STEP UP (Student Teams Exploring Pervasive Urban Problems) program. Faculty sponsor to submit this research essay to DOOR: Dr. Elliot J. Rossiter. We argue that Hilton Vancouver Metrotown is unethical in firing a large number of their workers without guaranteeing these workers a right to return to their position, which can be shown to be unethical through the concepts of noxious markets and unequal distributive justice. Since April 2021, Hilton Metrotown has been criticized for terminating almost 100 employees in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, most of them being women and immigrants. Godfrey (2021) reported that the hotel is planning to fire even more in the near future and are not planning to recall them back to work again. We would like to propose that, instead of permanently terminating these workers, Hilton Metrotown should instead place them on a temporary unpaid layoff. When the industry recovers and business picks back up again, Hilton Metrotown should recognize that these workers are entitled to their jobs and recall them back to work. We anticipate that our policy recommendation will be faced with some objections, namely that maintaining these workers during an economic downturn will be costly for the hotel, and that British Columbia labour laws don't let a business keep their employees in a layoff for too long. We reply that because these workers are not paid during the layoff, it won't incur costs for the hotel, and that the law should be made flexible to accommodate these workers during these uncertain times.