Report (2006) Creating Luxury, Enduring Pain - Hotel Workers Rising

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Daisy Virgo, a housekeeper at the Hilton Downtown Toronto describes changesin her workload over the 25 years she has worked at the hotel: “Years ago we usuallydid 12 and 14 rooms. Now the company has added more rooms, 15 and 16.They brought on heavy duvets, more amenities in the room, more towels. Ourworkload is heavier.”Research shows that the recent changes sweeping the hotel industry are contributingsignificantly to ergonomic problems on the job. In one survey, hotelhousekeepers reported heavy linen carts (84%) and heavy bedspreads or comforters(74%) as significant work-related problems in their hotels. 20 Another publishedstudy found that “the use of larger and heavier beds in the hospitalityindustry increased loads on the lumbar spine”, making the risk of injury to thelower back more likely while performing bed making tasks. 21Understaffing: A Dangerous Employment StrategyIn recent years, hotel managers have cut hotel staff, thereby increasing the levelof responsibility and job pressures for the workers who remain. The job categoryof “hotel houseman” is one segment of hotel employment that has undergonesignificant reductions in recent years. Housemen are critical to housekeeperssince they keep housekeepers supplied with clean linen. They also help withespecially heavy and onerous tasks such as stripping beds and moving cots, rollawaybeds and cribs. Hotel managers have reassigned housemen’s work tohousekeepers in addition to their normal duties.An analysis of employment data froma sample of Hilton and Sheratonhotels shows that the number ofhousemen employed relative tohousekeepers has fallen dramatically.22 Figure A shows the averageannual number of housemen per 100housekeepers for the 1999 to 2003period. In 1999, there were roughly18 housemen per 100 housekeepers.Four years later, the number ofhousemen per 100 housekeepers fellto 12, a drop of 33%.Ada Ramirez, a housekeeper whohas been working at the SheratonCentre Hotel in Toronto for 19 years,described her experience: “Ten yearsago, the housemen ratio was one forevery five floors, now it is one forevery seven floors.” Guerda Phillipe,a Westin Boston housekeeper says: “I need more help. When we work in theafternoon we have no housemen to help us move the linen and move the trash.It is very hard for us.”1816141210Figure A: Number of Housemen per 100 HotelHousekeepers, 1999-200319992000200120022003Note: Data from 9 unionized Hilton and Sheraton properties with calculated averageannual total employment of 6,600 workers.The number of housemen per 100 housekeepers has fallen steadilysince 1999. As a result, hotel housekeepers must perform additionalduties to offset hotel management’s decision to cut housemen.CREATING LUXURY, ENDURING PAIN | 13
ConclusionHotels are increasingly attuned to the upscale consumer. To this end, hotels haveremodeled rooms, adding large luxurious beds with heavy linens and otheramenities. In pursuing the ultimate in luxury, these changes are good for consumersand business. For the workers who create this luxury on a daily basis,these changes contribute to pervasive pain and high injury rates.In order to conduct an analysis of workplace hazards, UNITE HERE requestedthe largest hotel chains to provide data on worker injuries — data to which theunion is legally entitled. The chains refused to fully comply. In November 2005,the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board found probable causeto believe that the national hotel chains had violated the law by not providing theinformation. The chains settled the charges to avoid going to trial and agreed toturn over the information. This data is the basis of much of the analysis in thisreport.Given the scope of these problems, one would expect the dominant hotel companiesto take the lead in studying employee injuries and take proactive steps tocontrol job hazards and prevent these injuries. We requested the five largest hoteloperators in the U.S. to provide any studies or analyses they conducted on workerhealth and safety or about the effectiveness of hotel policies for preventinginjuries. To date, we have received none.14 | CREATING LUXURY, ENDURING PAIN
Page 1 and 2: Creating Luxury,Enduring PainHow Ho
Page 4 and 5: IntroductionValessie McCaskill work
Page 6 and 7: The factsEvidence of the workplace
Page 8 and 9: Housekeepers’ realities: Pain and
Page 10 and 11: Table 4 provides further evidence t
Page 12 and 13: Housekeepers take their pain homeJa
Page 16 and 17: Endnotes1 Average figures for 2003
Page 18 and 19: Contact: Joan Moriarty: 212.332.931

Report (2006) Creating Luxury, Enduring Pain - Hotel Workers Rising

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