The Marriott-Queen’s Food Strike was a six-month long strike at Queen’s University, organized by Marriott food service workers in 1994. Marriott, after they purchased Saga Foods in 1986, was contracted to manage the food services at Queen’s in 1994 [1].

 

By 1994, full time food service workers at Queen’s had been unionized with CUPE 229 for 36 years [2]. Over time, full time food service positions were steadily replaced by non-unionized part-time workers and in 1993, the part-time workers comprised the majority of Marriott’s workforce [3]. They were paid a substantially lower wage than the full time workers, who performed the same work [1]. Marriott food service workers were also not given pensions [4]. 

 

On March 8th, 1994, Marriott workers voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action. They demanded equal pay between full-time and part-time workers, wage increases, pensions, and more job security [3]. On April 11th, the full time workers’ began their strike, with the part-timers joining them on the 16th. On April 18th, shortly after the start of the strike, Queen’s was granted an injunction which prohibited workers from demonstrating some areas on campus [2]; following the conclusion of the strike, a court decision ruled in favour of the union and declared this injunction to be illegal [6].

 

On the morning of September 12th 1994, as the strike dragged on and began to lose steam, a group of seven Marriott workers (four men and three women) and a film student stormed the Ban Righ cafeteria and occupied the bakery. That same day, another group of Marriott workers briefly occupied the tower at Grant Hall and hung a large banner from the top [6]. The bakery occupiers remained inside for seven hours until the police broke through the barricade and arrested the group [7]. 

 

After over six months on the picket lines, the strike came to an end on October 22nd, 1994, with just over half of the striking full-timers voting to call off the strike [8]. In the end, Marriott met some of the workers’ demands. Full-time workers came out of the strike with a pension plan and increased job security. The part-time workers were integrated into the same bargaining unit as the full-timers, were granted the ability to apply for full time positions [6], and received a pay raise [4].

 

 1. Cooper, Bruce, “Saga Makes Quality a Priority,” The Queen’s Journal, January 20, 1987, 9.

2. Queen’s University Unity Council, “Queen’s Food Services Strike,” May 10, 1994.

3. Thorlakson, Lori, “Marriott Workers Vote to Strike,” The Queen’s Journal, March 11, 1994, 1.

4. Platt, John (former President of CUPE local 229), Interview with author, August 19, 2016.

5. Blofield, Carina and Affan Qadir, “A Strike Summary,” The Queen’s Journal, September 27, 1994.

6. Dodds, Bruce (strike coordinator), Interview with author, August 23, 2016.

7.  Kunnas, Kristen, “Marriott Workers Arrested,” The Queen’s Journal, September 12, 1994, 8.

8. Tzembelicos, Andrew, “It’s Over!,” The Queen’s Journal, October 25, 1994, 1.