Housekeeper denounces brutal conditions in the hotel sector at EU Social Summit

Carmen Casín, Spanish hotel housekeeper and member of the IUF-affiliated FeSMC-UGT’s hotel section, used his position as panelist at the recent EU Social Summit in Gothenburg, Sweden to expose the brutal reality of work in the Spanish and European hospitality industry. On the panel “TOGETHER for Social Justice & Sustainable Growth”, Casín denounced the economic ‘recovery’ proclaimed by the Spanish and European political authorities for bringing with it a permanent loss of social rights, deepening inequality, increased precariousness and a widening gender wage gap.

Speaking from personal experience, she described the lack of rights, low salaries, the impossibility of reconciling work and family life and the poor working conditions that characterize the hospitality sector in general and the situation of housekeepers in particular. Building a genuine European Social Pillar, the Social Summit theme, required improving the working conditions and recognizing the dignity of all workers, she said.