Joey DeFrancesco became a short-lived Internet celebrity in 2011 after the then-24 year old posted a video of himself quitting his job at Providence’s Renaissance Hotel. “Joey Quits,” is an incredibly satisfying three minute clip which features DeFrancesco stating “they treat us like shit here,” dropping a letter of resignation at the feet of his clearly disgruntled manager, and making an exit backed up by his marching band, What Cheer? Brigade.
DeFrancesco’s stunt struck a chord with viewers. The video accumulated more than three million views on Youtube and CNN named Joey a “recession hero.” His video empowered a public energized by the Occupy Wall Street movement; people were weary of abuse by middle management and ready to use social media to fight back.
DeFrancesco’s fifteen minutes have passed, but unlike most viral videos the Internet churns out, “Joey Quits” remains relevant – at least to those concerned with the work conditions and unionization of Rhode Island service workers.
In December 2012, around a year after DeFrancesco made his exit from the Renaissance, the hotel was sold to the Procaccianti Group, a national hotel management company, although upper management remained the same. After this transaction, employees claimed that working conditions went from bad to worse. Renaissance workers are not represented by a union, and earn less and receive fewer benefits than unionized hotel workers at institutions like the Omni, according to Unite Here Local 217, a Rhode Island and Connecticut organization for un-unionized hotel and restaurant workers. The workers that have spoken up describe abysmal treatment by middle managers, lack of respect, and failure to receive adequate training. One housekeeper stated that employees were concerned about their long-term health, after new cleaning chemicals allegedly caused rashes and made breathing difficult.
A blog post from a former Renaissance housekeeping supervisor (who worked in the period before the sale to the Procaccianti Group), states that injuries at the Renaissance were common, in part due to inadequate equipment and training. The former employee also described regular harassment of workers, including pressure not to pursue medical leave, and stated that the Renaissance “regarded them as animals.”
The employees took their complaints to the street in the spring of this year. In March, the workers brought a petition to Management demanding permission to join Unite Here Local 217. The petition was signed by more than 75% of service employees. Management refused the petition, and groups of protesters composed of hotel workers and city council members have picketed outside the Renaissance every Wednesday since.
More recently, demonstrators gathered outside the Renaissance in a separate demonstration, protesting a multimillion-dollar tax break that the hotel is scheduled to receive from the city of Providence.
In a press release from a lead organizer of Unite Here Local 217 Andrew Tillet-Saks writes, “The Providence City Council introduced an ordinance to review the Renaissance Hotel’s tax break in the month of July. A tense standoff has ensued between The Procaccianti Group…and many Providence residents who feel the exemption is unfair and bad for the city.”
The press release stated that the tax break would amount to approximately $9 million. Mayor Angel Taveras opposes continuing the tax break, citing rising taxes for working people and the necessity for city services revenue.
In the press release, Tillet-Saks also quotes one Renaissance employee as saying, “Why is my employer, a multi-million dollar hotel company who’s paying lower taxes than a Providence small business, paying me such low wages?”
As Unite Here Local 217 and other Renaissance worker supporters continue putting pressure on the city to discontinue the hotel’s tax break, it is worth noting that support and attention for their efforts is limited. Press for the protests is strictly local, and even at the state level media coverage is not remotely extensive. While “Joey Quits,” racked up a million hits across the globe in less than a week, the general Providence populace has not – at least not yet – been galvanized for the cause of the Renaissance employees. Of the rallies that took place in the past months, attendees have numbered in the “dozens” or less, according to several reports, and protesters are generally either hotel workers or members of labor rights organizations.
The economy is on the upswing and the Occupy Wall Street public is settling down, so frustration with subpar working conditions and low paying jobs is not as widespread as it was several years ago. But despite the slowly improving economy, a portion of the population still doesn’t have the freedom or opportunity to declare their resignation to the fanfare of a marching band. This group tends to be immigrants.
In an email from organizer Tillet-Saks writes, “Most of the workers are Latino immigrants, a particularly exploited group in the United States….They truly need all progressives in the Providence area’s support, so that they and justice prevail, and so that workers all over get the message that with unity a more equitable city is possible.”
Workers’ rights abuses did not cease to exist after the Occupy movement subsided. But just because they are no longer magnified by a social movement and brought to national attention, does not mean that they do not deserve a community’s attention.
Maybe a more important point to make in the post-Occupy world is that the group who is now fighting to improve its work conditions will not be numerous, well organized college graduates armed with iPhones and a sense of being wronged by the system. They will be immigrants (both documented and undocumented) and non-union workers, groups that are more frequently marginalized by society.
The legacy of “Joey Quits” is surviving, in part with a blog that shares the clip’s name. Joey Quits, the blog, shares the stories of hotel and restaurant workers and its stated mission is, “to educate consumers and workers about the labor abuses happening everyday in the hotel and restaurant industries.” The blog posts the majority of its content in both English and Spanish.