ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

Cleaning staff at a Parisian hotel have won a historic victory after an almost two-year battle to improve their working conditions and pay.

The deal signed between union representatives and staff at the Ibis Batignolles hotel will lead to monthly pay rises of between €250 and €500 per person while moving some staff members on to full-time contracts.

The cleaners have also obtained the right to work longer hours at a slower pace, take 30-minute breaks and use a punch clock to ensure that they receive overtime pay.

"Slavery is over, mistreatment is over," chanted the Ibis Batignolles cleaners as they celebrated the signature of the agreement.

The 20 workers went on strike in July 2019 before being placed on state benefits eight months later at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. The dispute drew support from unions, the government and the public.

"We have secured a beautiful victory," said striker Rachel Keke. "Now we can do our work at ease," added her colleague Deneba Diallo. "Before the work was too tough with no breaks and not even the right to drink a little water. There was no mercy for us."

Economist François-Xavier Devetter, who has authored a book on low-paid jobs in France, stressed the importance of the Ibis case. "It signalled a symbolic victory in a long-standing and unequal tussle pitting a particularly vulnerable and largely female labour force against employers who are almost untouchable," he said.