Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tourism

The IUF HRCT Trade Group represents workers in the Hotel, Restaurant, Catering and Tourism sectors.

While small and medium enterprises employ most of the workforce in these sectors, much of the IUF’s work focuses on coordinating activity and campaigning on rights abuses in international hotel chains, giant fast food companies and global catering companies. Companies such as Marriott, Accor, Melia, Hilton, McDonald’s, Burger King, Sodexo, Compass, LSG Sky Chefs and Gate Gourmet lead market trends, shape the employment practices, determine whether labour standards will be upheld and have the most impact on working conditions and the livelihoods of workers and their families.

The IUF fights to uphold and defend workers’ right to join a union free from interference  and the right to enter into collective bargaining to set the terms and conditions of employment. The fight for gender equality and a workplace free from harassment including sexual harassment and discrimination of any kind, also lie at the core of our work in these sectors.

Low wages and exploitative working conditions result from a relentless cost cutting environment. Customer concerns about the environment have given rise to fake ‘green programmes’ in hotels. These are normally disguised attempts to reduce costs at the expense of housekeepers’ working hours and wages. Confronting the climate crisis with policies for change which make a real difference will be a component of our work in the future.

The IUF HRCT Trade Group has clear goals: decent working conditions and healthy workplaces free from discrimination and harassment.

IUF work in tourism also involves promoting standards through institutional institutions such as the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO).