THE BARBADOS Workers’ Union (BWU) says it is giving full support to the campaign organised by the Geneva-based International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF) which is aimed at bringing “dignity and safe work for hotel housekeepers”.
The BWU is an affiliate of the IUF, an international trade union federation,composed of 383 trade unions in 125 countries with an affiliated membership of more than 2.7 million members.
The BWU noted in a statement that it has been consistent in its appeal for safety standards and health education and training to be put in place for hotel workers, particularly, housekeepers whose duties the cleaning of rooms as well as handling bed linen and, who along with laundry workers, are likely to be infected by body fluids.
“In a recent public statement the BWU called for more training for housekeepers in light of the outbreak of infectious diseases such as Ebola. During the Week of Excellence, which will be celebrated in the New Year, the BWU proposes to work with the Ministry of Health to provide training for hotel staff regarding a range of infectious diseases, including hepatitis,” the statement said.
The global week of action, which ends on Friday, is organised to highlight the situation of hotel housekeepers and to demand a safe, secure working environment from a global industry which rests on their efforts.
The IUF claims that housekeepers, the foundation of the hospitality business, work hidden within magnificent luxury hotels as well as more modest establishments, yet, for all the skill and hard work they bring to guests and employers, their contribution is scandalously undervalued.
The IUF, in a message distributed among its affiliates, states that, hidden within magnificent luxury hotels as well as more modest establishments, housekeepers are now challenging their invisible status, speaking out against abusive working conditions and calling on the global hotel industry to recognise their contribution and their rights.
The message added: “Housekeepers perform exhausting daily tasks for low pay and little or no employment security. The vast majority are women, often migrants. Their vulnerability exposes them to a multitude of health, safety and security risks: job stress, industrial chemicals, risks to their bodies from repetitive heavy tasks, sexual abuse, and exploitation by unscrupulous employers often fiercely resist union organization, outsourcing schemes that shield employers from responsibility and further degrade working conditions and insufficient or totally lacking legal and social security.
“Few guests would imagine that housekeepers have one of the highest rates of work-related injuries and sickness of any occupational group”. (PR/NB)