The Ontario Federation of Labour is boycotting Canadian Niagara Hotels and its subsidiaries until the company returns to the bargaining table with its Rainforest Cafe workers.

The Toronto-based organization representing 54 unions and more than one million workers announced the boycott Thursday, in support of workers at the Niagara Falls restaurant who have been trying to negotiate a first collective agreement with their employer for more than a year.

Canadian Niagara Hotels has not responded to calls for comment regarding the boycott.

"The strength of our movement comes from our solidarity," OFL president Chris Buckley said in a media release. "Together we are sending the message that this employer must end its continued mistreatment of workers, anti-union behaviour, and refusal to bargain in good faith with their unionized employees."

About 95 workers at the restaurant, represented by Workers United Canada Council Local 2347, have been on strike since early April.

In addition to hopes of negotiating their first contract, workers say their employer has failed to properly address allegations of sexual harassment in the workplace.

The labour organization's secretary-treasurer, Patty Coates, referred to a 1987 Supreme Court of Canada ruling requiring that an employer provide a workplace free of sexual harassment.

"It is time for the Rainforest Cafe to meet its obligations by stopping sexual harassment in its workplace, and bargaining a fair collective agreement with its workers, as the law requires."

OFL lists five Niagara Falls Hotels - Crowne Plaza, Skyline Hotel and Perkins, Sheraton on the Falls, Clifton Victoria Inn and Marriott Fallsview - as well as two restaurants - the Rainforest Cafe and Hard Rock Cafe - as off-limits to labour organizations.

Buckley said a boycott is called only in "very serious circumstances."

He said the employer should not take the action lightly, adding Ontario unions and their more than one million members often use Canadian Niagara Hotels for conferences, conventions and meetings.

"It is sure to damage the reputations of these hotels within the labour community and result in a substantial financial penalty in lost revenue," he said.

"We encourage our affiliates, their members, families and friends to join this boycott, contact Canadian Niagara Hotels to voice their concerns, and to continue to work in solidarity and support with the workers on strike at the Rainforest Cafe," he said.

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