Protesting five months of furlough and counting, coupled with radio silence from local owner Ty Warner and the Four Seasons corporate office in Toronto, some 250 Biltmore employees took to the streets of Montecito on Thursday.
A number carried big black-and-white banners that read “SHAME ON TY WARNER” and "SHAME ON FOUR SEASONS" while others held smaller signs that reflected their devotion to the resort but frustration over their recent treatment. “29 YEARS OF SERVICE,” one said. “NO SEVERANCE. AGAINST OUR CONTRACT.”
At issue is the employment limbo the Biltmore’s workers find themselves in after the hotel shut down in March amid the coronavirus. While other luxury hotels in the region have reopened their doors, the Biltmore has not, though corporate managers keep promising staff that operations will resume in just “two weeks.” Those assurances, however, have been made over and over since April with no end in sight.