Hotel workers win a historic victory

They sent a message that couldn’t be ignored (Photo: UVWunion on X)

Workers at Radisson Blu hotel in Canary Wharf have won their dispute and called off their planned six week strike that was due to start this Friday.

It would have been the longest hotel workers’ strike in nearly 50 years if it had gone ahead.

Following negotiations with the CEO, who pockets over £650,000 a year, all of the UVW union members’ demands were met.

They have won the pay rise they asked for, along with back pay, reduced workloads and a guaranteed 40 hours per week have been restored.

This was after bosses had cut their guaranteed hours to 16 hours a week a few months ago. At the same time, their cleaning workloads had nearly doubled, from 14 rooms per day to 24 per day.

Bosses were paying workers £13 an hour, but they demanded the London Living Wage of £13.85.

Doris Selembo, who has been a housekeeper for Radisson Blu for over 30 years, said, “The whole team stood together and achieved this win.

“We are both excited and grateful. Excited for the future and we are grateful because we are with UVW and WGC are finally listening to us.” 

The housekeepers, primarily migrant women from Nepal, took the fight to outsourcing giant WGC. The decline in working conditions began after WGC took over the contract across all nine London hotels in 2024.

Since then, long-serving housekeepers—some with decades of service—have seen their hours drastically cut, leaving them unable to make ends meet on poverty wages.

Petros Elia, general secretary at UVW, added: “This is the first victory in the hotel sector in England since 1979. Our women members have proven beyond doubt that when workers organise, stand together and fight, they win.

“They have made history. They sent a message that could not be ignored—a demand for dignity, respect, guaranteed full-time hours, reduced workloads and a living wage.

“And this time, their bosses listened. We said we would support them every step of the way, and that is exactly what we did.

“Housekeepers are no longer at the margins of the union movement. Now they are not only in the centre of it but are leading by example.”