1. Global Housekeeping Campaign
20th August 2014 Manila

2. Background New trends seriously attack housekeepers’ health & safety
Survey/personal interviews on health and safety issues of hotel housekeeping workers, focusing on three hotel chains: Accor, Hilton and Rezidor in and 2010
IUF Congress in May 2012
IUF HRCT Trade Group Board Meeting in November 2012
Official campaign launch in May 2013 at IUF EC meeting

3. Campaign

4. Campaign Aims To denounce these conditions of work to global
political and labour organizations in our sphere
(ILO - UNWTO)
To identify “good practices” which can serve
as examples, so that we can clearly see those
companies with the worst conditions of work on which to target our organising resources to remedy that situation.

5. Campaign Aims Through our website,
to dedicate a specific page where we will keep
this demand alive as a key element to generate discussion among affected workers.
To improve the working conditions of these
workers.

6. Campaign Aims To identify specific cases which clearly support
our concerns, taking examples from each region
to show the global nature of this threat.
To increase union membership and activism
amongst housekeepers in each IUF region.

7. Regional Activities done so far
IUF A/P HRCT Meeting in Manila (Sep 2013)
Global survey on cover of collective agreement, legal retirement, working conditions, employment status with regional questionnaires of the number of permanent and precarious housekeepers and room quota (Oct 2013)
Set up of global campaign team (Dec 2013)
Jointly exposure of the Campaign in the region on IWD 2014
Jointly actions in Pakistan, India, Indonesia and Korea (Apr 2014)
Set up of regional campaign team (July 2014)

10. Why Housekeepers? Health and safety as an organizing tool
Findings form global survey 2013
gap between normal retirement age and early leaving job for health reasons, which put housekeepers in poverty and vulnerable status
Outsourcing is an increasing problem worldwide
Country (A/P)
Normal retirement age
Age leaving job for health reasons
Years lost
India 58
40-48
10-18
Indonesia 50 45 5
Philippines 60
40-60
0-20

11. Why Housekeepers?
Hard labor and high risk rates of pain & injury - hotel housekeeper's job requires an athlete's fitness 
Work strain of various activities (MET)
Sitting quietly 1.0; Light cycling 4.0; Light ball game 6.0
Brisk walking at 6km/hr 4.5; Hotel cleaning 5.3
*The MET rating (metabolic equivalent) represents the increased energy consumption caused by muscle use compared to rest, which is represented by the value 1.0 on the scale.

12. Why Housekeepers? But in reality?
ILO definition of housekeepers (Good Practices Guide for Guesthouses and Small Hotels, 2012)
But in reality?
Undervalued job category
Higher rates of outsourced department
Higher rates of earlier retirement for health reasons
Housekeeper; refers to person responsible for the cleaning and maintenance of the guestroom, toilet and public areas of the hotel or guesthouse
Tips: Housekeeping personnel plays an important part of the accommodation business. Without them working as a team with the front desk staff your business will be disrupted

13. Why Housekeepers? Hotel industry (esp. room business) in general
Selling guest rooms (expectation of higher turnover/occupancy rate) on hotel side
Cleanliness, neat, friendly, convenience, fully restful, adequate service comparative to cost on guest side
What about on workers side?
Hotel industry in the Philippines
Tourist destination
Sustainable tourism = stable status of employment incl. rights to work in healthy conditions, less stress/workloads preventing from health & safety related diseases and retirement
Contribution to workers/local communities with fair distribution

14. Inconvenient Truth
Why housekeeping department was usually outsourced at an earlier stage?
Easy access to job means low quality, low confidence and low dignity job?
Discrimination/bias against housekeeping job?
How to overcome against the employers’ strategy to split workers by comparing job categories?
Imagine! What if housekeepers stop their work?

15. Union density = Bargaining power
Weak collective bargaining power means relatively less impacts on hotel business when taking collective actions
Lotte Hotel Workers’ Strike for 74 days in Seoul in 2000
To get together with vulnerable/marginalized workers
To revitalize union power from the basic by relieving/improving outsourced workers’ poor working conditions, which resulted in unionizing
To build up and strengthen workers’ solidarity internally/downwards by breaking the sense of discrimination against co-workers
Three cows and one lion

16. Regional Campaign Team
Participating countries: Indonesia, Pakistan, India, Korea plus
To implement global housekeeping campaign in the region and win the aims by following up any decisions and action plans, etc.
Target hotels
Melia, Rezidor, Accor (Global)
Shangri-la, Oberoi, (Intercontinental, Hyatt) (Asia/Pacific)
Next skype call: 26th August 2014

17. Regional Campaign Team
4 months’ action plan
Indonesia - mapping on key issues/demands from FSPM (non)affiliates, collecting housekeepers’ profiles, socializing, identifying OHS issues (body map), workshop/ meetings targeting housekeepers
India – permanency issues targeting 300 precarious workers at Oberoi hotel by setting up action committee with fully support of permanent workers’ union, rally and leafleting to guests, workers’ media, etc. in solidarity with union favorable NGOs
Joint actions (late this year or early next year)
Regional common slogan (i.e. Safe working conditions for all housekeepers; No More Pain!; Permanency Now!)