Major step forward

When Intercontinental Hotel Group failed to keep its promise to phase in the Living Wage, the hotel group’s workers, many of whom subsist on poverty wages in one of the world’s most expensive cities, weren’t going to give in without a fight.

Their  efforts are finally paying off following the latest day of action yesterday (November 5), when Unite’s hotel branch gathered outside the IHG-owned Crowne Plaza in Blackfriars to put continued pressure on management to make good on its 2012 pledge.

For the first time since an initial meeting facilitated by the TUC in the run up to the 2012 Olympics, management has agreed to meet face to face with Unite.

Unite regional officer Dave Turnbull explained the union’s hotel workers’ ongoing campaign was to get IHG back on track to do what it had already intended to after that initial meeting.

“We believed that as a consequence of that meeting over two years ago the company had committed not only to phasing in the London Living Wage, but to maintaining an ongoing and constructive dialogue with Unite,” he said.

“Our ongoing campaign has been to get the company back to a postion where it is honouring those commitments,” he added.

During the latest demonstration on Wednesday, assistant general secretary Diana Holland hand-delivered a letter to IHG management, reminding them of their publically made promise, which received heavy media coverage at the time, to pay all of their workers at least the Living Wage within five years.

Two years later, many of IHG’s sub-contracted workers are paid the legally binding minimum of £6.50 an hour, while another significant minority of directly employed food and beverage assistants, room service personnel and luggage porters are barely above that at £6.80.

Turnbull said the union received a letter from IHG’s head of HR operations, Europe. The letter noted,  “We would be happy to arrange a meeting with you to discuss our position further in order to ensure we are doing all we can to strengthen relations with our employees and their representatives.”

Turnbull argued that the ongoing campaign of Unite’s hotel branch was directly responsible for Wednesday’s major breakthrough.

“This is proof that when we are loud and visible and persistent we will get results,” said Turnbull.

Turnbull added that this is a vitally important first step in winning the pay and respect IHG’s workers deserve.

“Our objective remains to achieve trade union access and neutrality as well as on open and ongoing dialogue on issues such as the Living Wage,” he said.