Siptu meets on hotel workers's rights

LONG WORKING hours, payment below the minimum wage and no rest breaks were just some of the issues raised by hotel workers who attended a Siptu open day on hotel workers’ rights in Dublin yesterday.

Hotel staff are among the most exploited and lowest paid workers in the State judging by the recent report from the National Employment Rights Authority. It found that almost 80 per cent of hotels were breaking employment laws.

Siptu branch organiser Paul Henry said at least 60-70 per cent of hotel workers were non-Irish and this increased their vulnerability. He said the union had received a major increase in requests for help from workers in non-union hotels in recent weeks. “There has been a steady increase from early December and since Christmas it has been relentless.”

Bar worker Dominika, from Warsaw, was instrumental in getting Siptu involved in the hotel she worked in.

“From the beginning I never get paid my tips from the credit card and room charges,” she explained. “I never get paid the Sunday premium. When we were extremely busy we never get our breaks, only when we had time for it.”

Through a friend she heard about Siptu and contacted the union. The hotel dealt with Siptu and agreed to pay staff their entitlements, including back pay and payments due from national wage agreements.

Polish waitress Beata said workers in her hotel were afraid to talk to their managers because they were constantly being told the hotel was struggling because of the recession.

She and her colleagues only realised recently that their hotel was not paying them the Sunday premium and that they were entitled to rest breaks.

The union also came to the rescue of Ukrainian hotel worker Anna and her colleagues. She had no English when she arrived five years ago and was just happy to have a job. But things quickly went downhill.

“Work was very hard. I have been doing 18 rooms with three to five beds and to finish rooms I spent 12 hours in a day working with no overtime pay.”

Housekeeping staff had to fight for vacuum cleaners. No porters were available for heavy lifting and the supervisor “always screamed at us that we are working slow”.

Within one month of starting work, her wages had been cut twice. “If anybody complained to boss, we were told to find another job. I was very afraid as I was here on my work permit.”

Siptu was approached and conditions have improved. “Now we aren’t afraid to say what we are not happy with,” she said.

Siptu organiser Sintija Sheerin said if hotel customers don’t get a smile with their service, it’s because the workers are exhausted. “They are doing the job that three people used to do.”