Unionized workers at two Toronto hotels are continuing negotiations with their employers, though they moved into a legal strike position on Friday.

The workers at the Radisson Suite Toronto Airport and the Holiday Inn Airport East say they want wages and workloads in line with workers at other nearby hotels.

The union says some hotels owned by the same company, Westmont Hospitality Group, are paying different amounts to mostly immigrant workers.

Julie Muise, a desk clerk at the Holiday Inn, said workers are upset that people doing the same jobs at other hotels are making more money. "We are all owned by Westmont, so we should be paid the same."

Unite Here, the union representing 6,400 bartenders, waiters, desk clerks and cleaning staffs, says, for example, chefs can earn as much as $4 an hour more at one of the other hotels affiliated with the company. It is important, says the union, to bring the wages of hotel workers into line so their jobs can be considered middle class.

Abdul Husseini, who emigrated from Pakistan 30 years ago, earns $8.74 an hour at the Holiday Inn. He said hotel management has taken advantage of immigrants like him for years.

"We came from poor countries so they [are] still trying to push us down here. So we are trying change that. People are working two, three jobs, so they don't have time to spend with their kids or their families or their wives," said Husseini.

Workers at the Fairmont Royal York in downtown Toronto, which was bought last year by Westmont, are also in negotiations.