The Lalji family, billionaire real-estate oligarchs, were 2023’s recipient of the Women’s Health Champion award from the BC Women’s Health Foundation, which is awarded annually to an « individual, family or organization who is dedicated to advancing women’s health. » The Lalji family were recognized for their philanthropic contributions to the Urgent Care Centre at B.C. Women’s Hospital.
Workers striking from the Lalji-owned Sheraton Vancouver Airport Hotel, most of whom are women, shared a different perspective on the impact of the Lalji family on women’s health. Asked about the award, UNITE HERE Local 40 organizer Gulzar Grewal said, « I feel like it’s kind of shameful because the people here are women, immigrant women. They’ve been working 25 years, 30 years, and now they are sitting outside [on the picket line]. »
Felisha Perry, a 26-year-old banquet server, said: « Being a young woman in my city, I don’t know if they should have won that, to be honest, because they don’t want to help their own employees, and they are one of the wealthiest families in Canada; top five. They have more than enough money to pay us! »
Workers at the Sheraton are fighting for a living wage ($25.68 per hour in Metro Vancouver, according to the Living Wage Campaign). Neither the Sheraton workers nor the workers at two adjacent Lalji-owned hotels, which are not unionized, make close to that amount.
While the women workers at their hotel sit out in the cold six months into a strike and struggle to provide for their families, the Laljis were feted for their tax-deductible donations at an elaborate gala and banquet sponsored by Royal Bank of Canada, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and other real estate and health care monopolies.