I CLEAN I1 rooms a day for which I get £36 gross, for a week and a . TOOK which I have to share another girl. Whether we like it we are made to clean two extra rooms a day... for just 40p for every extra room .." (Chambermaid, 1980)
We treat our people properly, are generous to them and recognise them as people. ' (Sir Charles Forte, 1980)
These two quotations indicate the reality behind the respectable facade of Britain's hotel and catering industry, exposed in the new CIS report Hardship Hotel.
It is a dreadful story of an increasingly monopolised dustry, making huge profits or the basis of the misery thousands of pitifully paid and shabbily treated WULACLO among whom immigrant workers and women represent a large proportion.
Many people realise that the hotel and catering industry is notoriously low-paid and wing in the industry, a scandal and affront to all working people, is graphically brought out in the CIS report.
While the findings of the report apply to the whole of the catering maustry, the report centres on the hotels.
1946.. Savoy Hotel workers on strike Wages and In June 1978, London's Grosvenor notel in- dismissed Fifteen had been living in, one of for 19 years and two 1o11o They were all given 48 hours to leave their rooms.
This kind of behaviour is just one aspect of the tyranny which hotel owners often exert Hotel chambermaids earn a pittance — at the beck and call of the employers over their workers. Apart from the pitifully low wages, hotel owners try to secure maxCOLTOE OVeL workforce.
Most hotel workers have extremely unsocial hours. Many have split shiftsworking early then in the evening.
Many are asked to do extra duties at short notice.
This system labour flexibility is compoundworkers who live in (low wages are often justified on this basis and by taken on to fill the gaps. summarily chamber maids, Trusthouse Forte Grand Metropolitan Coral Leisure Rank Organisation EMI (now Thorn) Comfort Trafalgar House British Transport Hotels Rowton Savoy casual workers being Company Trusthouse Forte Grand Metropolitan 1,029 1,000 .977 1,346 n.a.
* Average weekly remuneration per employee The unskilled worker's basic weekly wages given are examples; rates vary from job to job and between hotels.
London's top ten hotel companies Ranked by number of beds.
Pre-tax
Sales profits 1979 1979 Em £m 721.0 68.2 62.5 1.171 1,727 large 1,206 2,109 1,093 l.d 35* 1,649 63* Profits* Profits increase hotels Landon 1978-9 (approx) beds 23% 73% 6,501 and the most vulnerable sec tions of society, and with of casual
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hard to unionise. But the full extent of the misery and suffer-
HOMELESS by the large number of