ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

Irish hotel cleaning staff are allegedly being told to clean more bedrooms per shift to compensate for an increase in the minimum wage.

And they may face disciplinary action if they fail to reach their new target, according to union chiefs.

Delegates at the biennial conference of Ireland's Services Industrial Professional and Technical Union in Cork learnt that staff who had previously been expected to clean 12 bedrooms per shift were now being asked to clean up to 20.

It was suggested that the move was being made to help make up for the forthcoming increase in Ireland's minimum wage from €9.25 to €9.55 in January 2018.

However, unrest has been building for years over reports of an increasingly aggressive attitude to cleaners on the part of hotel managers.

Last year, Siptu organiser for hotels Joanna Ozdarska said union rules previously suggested that 12 to 14 rooms per shift should be the maximum for hotel workers. "But increasingly that number is rising to as many as 20 rooms," she said. "The whole attitude is very aggressive towards workers: they are pushed and penalised for minor mistakes."

She added that there was a growing number of non-unionised, non-English-speaking cleaners who were unaware of their rights and fearful of unemployment. "They are coming under constant pressure to clean more hotel rooms per shift," she said. "And since training is often absolutely minimal, this is a health and safety issue."