Pay us a living wage

Unite’s hotel workers have had enough of poverty pay in an industry that reaps billions of pounds in profit on the broken backs of a workforce struggling to get by.

On Friday (August 8) Unite’s hospitality members will take to the streets in the nation’s capital, pressing their case for earning the London Living Wage of £8.80 an hour – the minimum needed to live a decent life in one of the world’s most expensive cities.

Workers and their supporters will gather to tell their stories and educate tourists about the nasty underworld of low wages and appalling conditions lurking beneath London’s plush 135,000 hotel rooms.

The pressure is on for London hotel bosses, who falsely claim they cannot afford to pay their lowest paid workers, which include housekeepers, waiters and other staff, more than the national minimum wage of ÂŁ6.31.

Unite will also send a clear signal to London Mayor Boris Johnson that going back on his promise to push for the London Living Wage is unacceptable.

Intercontinental Hotel Group, which owns Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn hotels, pledged to introduce the Living Wage to secure an Olympic contract in 2012, but has made absolutely no progress in two years. Since then, Boris Johnson has let the highly profitable hotel group off the hook.

Unite argues that an industry which rakes in £5.7bn annually and makes £10.5m per day in London alone can more than afford to pay its workers fairly. New York City, one of London’s official sister cities, is dotted with the same big name hotels which charge their customers far less for rooms but pay their workers more than double the rate of their London counterparts.

Unite officer for the hospitality industry, Dave Turnbull said, “Tens of thousands of workers across the capital are struggling to piece together a living, working endless hours for lousy wages.

“Voluntary targets and cosy promises do not put food on workers’ tables or clothes on their kids’ backs. We will not rest until these businesses act responsibly towards their workforce and the city that makes them so immensely wealthy.”

Kicking off the campaign is an exclusive Unite film exposing the harsh reality of life in London on low pay. Minimum wage workers tell their stories of long hours, oppressive conditions and making ends meet in a city of soaring rent and food prices. The film, London, the greatest city – but only if you can afford it, is available here on Unite Live, or by clicking www.unitetheunion.org/£8.80