“NO HARVEY HOTELS IN CHICAGO”
Media Advisory for November 14, 2017
CONTACT:
Sarah Lyons
312-385-0603
[email protected]
City Leaders and hospitality workers to kick-off implementation of new law to protect Chicago hotel workers from sexual harassment and assault
Chicago, IL – Tuesday, November 14, City Clerk Anna Valencia and UNITE HERE Local 1 will hold a cake-cutting ceremony with Chicago hotel workers to kick-off the implementation of the “Hands Off Pants On” ordinance, the City’s new law to protect Chicago hotel workers from sexual harassment and assault.
The ceremony will begin at 9am on the 2nd floor of City Hall with Clerk Anna Valencia serving as the honorary cake cutter. The cake will read “NO HARVEYS IN CHICAGO” and feature the face of Hollywood mogul, Harvey Weinstein, with a red X. The Chicago City Council unanimously approved the “Hands Off Pants On” ordinance on October 11, as news of the allegations against Harvey Weinstein broke.
The passage of the landmark legislation places Chicago at the fore of a national conversation about workplace sexual harassment. Spearheaded by the Chicago Federation of Labor and Alderman Michelle Harris (8th Ward), the “Hands Off Pants On” ordinance requires Chicago hotels to provide panic buttons to hotel workers who work alone in guest rooms and rest rooms, protects hotel workers from retaliation when they report sexual violence by guests, and requires hotels to implement an anti-sexual harassment policy. A 2016 survey conducted by UNITE HERE Local 1 of 487 women working in the Chicagoland hospitality industry found that 58% of Chicago hotel workers surveyed said they had been sexually harassed by a guest.[i]
WHAT: “Hands Off Pants On: No Harvey Hotels in Chicago” Kick-Off and Cake-Cutting
WHEN: Tuesday, November 14, 2017 at 9 a.m.
WHERE: Podium outside Chicago City Council Chambers, 121 N. LaSalle Dr., 2nd Floor, Chicago, IL 60602
WHO: Anna Valencia, City Clerk of Chicago
Karen Kent, President of UNITE HERE Local 1
Chicago hotel workers
VISUALS: T-shirts and ceremonial cake featuring “NO HARVEYS IN CHICAGO” with face of Hollywood mogul, Harvey Weinstein, with a red X. Preview available here: http://bit.ly/2m9X20a
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UNITE HERE Local 1 represents over 15,000 hospitality and food service workers in the City of Chicago and surrounding area.
[i] https://www.handsoffpantson.org/wp-content/uploads/HandsOffReportWeb.pdf