THE TRADE union movement has launched an initiative aimed at encouraging workers to use hotels which offer agreed levels of pay and conditions to staff for family holidays, short breaks, conferences and meetings.
More than 40 hotels which recognise trade unions for collective bargaining and which have signed agreements governing terms and conditions for workers have been set out in the “fair hotels” campaign.
The campaign will seek to use the purchasing power of more than 850,000 trade union members in Ireland as well as 12 million overseas in addition to that of more than 50 trade unions.
Speaking at the launch, president of Siptu and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions Jack OConnor said trade unions which have endorsed the campaign would be giving their business for conferences and meetings to hotels in the new scheme.
General secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions David Begg said that over the next three years unions would hold 61 major delegate conferences, involving over 17,600 delegates and about 45,000 bed nights. He said that the “fair hotels” scheme had “enormous potential”.
The organiser of the scheme Ethel Buckley said consumers would not have to pay higher prices to avail of services in hotels covered by the new campaign and that discounts of up to 10 per cent would be offered.
Hotel worker Bernadette Casey said the hotel industry was not a“cushy number”, that the shifts were long and the hours could be anti-social. She said those working in fair hotels still had the chance of making a living.