ACCOR, the world’s number one hypocrite
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How much are you paying for your hotel room ?
70, 80, 100, 120 euros, maybe even a lot more ...
How much does the woman who cleans your room get ?
About 2 euros, at most !
Why does the ACCOR group have other companies clean its hotels (Etap, Formule 1, Frantour, Ibis, Mercure, Novotel, Sofitel and others) ?
Because that’s the cheapest way of getting the work done.
But at what cost for those who do the work ?
One example of the methods used by one subcontractor, Arcade : they hire recently immigrated women, preferably illiterate and possibly illegal residents ; make them sign part-time contracts with no set days or schedules specified, then have them work the least possible hours, just enough to clean the rooms occupied the previous night ; pay them the minimum hourly wage, not for the number of hours actually worked, but for a theoretical number defined by a salary scale imposed by them (4 rooms an hour in Etap hotels, 3.5 at Ibis, 3 at Sofitel, etc.) ; put relentless supervisors on their backs ; replace them with no compensation once their back and knees are worn out.
The solution : Struggle and Solidarity
In 2002, thirty-three cleaning women working for Arcade/ACCOR went on strike. Their demands included slower compulsory work paces. After a year of struggle, and thanks to active, ongoing support, they went back to work, having won !!
One year later, Arcade fired the woman who had been most active, the union representative who fought day in and day out to make sure the agreement that put an end to the strike was implemented. The firm knew all the right moves to make, it obtained the consent of the work inspectors for this lay-off...
In 2003, under pressure because of all the publicity around the strike, the management of ACCOR agreed to have its subcontractors sign a “charter” by which they were obliged to comply with some rules of proper behavior (the clauses were never made public. Anti-union repressive action was obviously not on the list . . .).
In August 2004, faced with a wave of protests against the lay-off of Faty Mayant, Ms. Cathy Kopp told the newspaper Libération : “We want to internalize our hotel-cleaning.”
Obviously, protest pays when it reaches the ears of the people in charge.
So join us in shouting :
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