The shame of London hotels

Global hotel chains stand accused of making London one of the most ‘unethical’ tourist destinations in the world by its own workforce in a hard hitting report launched today (Monday August 22) by Unite.

Written by Unite, Unethical London, exposes the low pay and exploitative work practices that have been allowed to flourish unchecked in the multi-billion hotel industry, using the stories of London’s mainly migrant hotel workers in their own words.

To mark its’ launch, Unite hotel worker members will stage a series of protests tomorrow (Tuesday August 23), starting on the South Bank near the London Eye from 5 pm, before moving to the Whitbread owned Premier Inn, County Hall, SE1 7PB.

One contributor, a room attendant writes, “I feel destroyed after each day, the other girls are too tired to even play with their children.” While a chef says, “I am so tired of 16 to 18 hour days, seven days a week and zero appreciation from my employer.”

The report shows that, despite many being signatories to various ethical social responsibility agreements, big name hotel chains, including Intercontinental Hotel Group (IHG) and Hilton are only paying lip service to workers’ basic human and trade union rights.

Unite is calling on all hotels operating in London to adopt a set of City Wide Principles, based on the key provisions of the OECD guidelines, the Ethical Trading Initiative Base Code and the United Nations global compact.

“This report needs to be read by every hotel-owner operating in the capital,” believes Unite London regional secretary Peter Kavanagh.

“These are the stories of their workers in their own words, and it makes for grim reading.

‘Collective shame’

“To its collective shame, not a single hotel in the capital pays the London Living Wage of £9.40 per hour. No collective agreement has been signed since the 1980s. Low pay, zero hour contracts and open hostility to trade unions have become standard practice, making London one of the most unethical tourist destinations in the world.

“The London hotel sector is failing its workforce. It has become a byword for low pay and exploitation. If these stories tell us anything, it is that shameful work practices, similar to those exposed at Sports Direct, have no place in 21^st century Britain.”

The report’s findings of those surveyed include 90 per cent of housekeeping staff in constant pain caused by their job with 84 per cent suffering from back pain; 53 per cent of front of house staff frequently miss meal and rest breaks because of workload and staff shortages; and 78 per cent of chefs have had a ‘near miss’ or accident at work because they feel overtired.

“It is a sad fact that hotel workers in places, like Manila and Buenos Aires, are shown more respect when it comes to their basic human and trade union rights, than workers in the capital of the world’s fifth largest economy,” commented Kavanagh.

“Now we want to change all that by showing that paying staff a wage they can live on and treating them fairly is good for workers and good for business. But to do this, the London hotel sector needs to start living up to its commitments.

“Our call is simple – work with us, take a stand against bad practice by signing up to our City Wide Principles. Together we can make London a world class and ethical tourist destination,” he added.

@chantalc28