Protest levelled at low-wage luxury hotels in London on World Tourism Day

On United Nations-designated World Tourism Day, 27 September, IUF-affiliated UNITE has organised protest action outside two of London’s top hotels – the Radisson Edwardian May Fair and the Holiday Inn Mayfair – to highlight the plight of low-paid hotel staff, many of whom are women and from ethnic minorities.

UNITE said that while tourism receipts in one of the world’s most expensive cities are soaring, there are currently no employers within London’s hospitality sector which pay the London ‘living wage’ rate of £8.55 an hour. Many of its members are forced to live on little more than the national minimum wage.

The protest is focussed on two hotels where UNITE believes “things should be different”.