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19.12.2025 / News /

UVW Wins Major Victory for Housekeepers at Radisson Blu Euston Square Hotel 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

·  UVW wins major victory at Radisson Blu Euston Square — housekeepers secure reduced workloads, higher pay, and guaranteed full-time hours. 

·  Following a similar victory at Radisson Blu Canary Wharf, which included the first hotel strike in England since 1979 last July, these wins signal a rising wave of union organisation and worker power in London’s hotel sector. 

United Voices of the World (UVW) union has secured a landmark victory for housekeepers at the Radisson Blu Euston Square hotel in central London, marking a major step forward for workers’ rights in the capital’s notoriously exploitative and under-unionised hotel sector. 

The dispute involved 31 housekeepers — every worker at the workplace — all of whom are UVW members. The workers — all migrants, predominantly women — united to demand a reduction in punishing workloads, an increase in pay, and guaranteed full-time hour contracts. Following sustained collective pressure and organisation by UVW, Radisson Blu conceded to their demands. 

The workers were prepared to escalate the dispute and vote for strike action, but this proved unnecessary as management agreed to their requests before any strike ballot was triggered, recognising the strength and unity of the workforce. 

This latest win follows another historic UVW-led victory earlier this year at Radisson Blu Canary Wharf, where housekeepers took part in the first hotel strike in England since 1979. That dispute resulted in the same demands being won in full, setting a powerful precedent across the sector. 

Together, these victories signal the beginning of a new wave of union organisation and worker resistance in London’s hotel industry — long characterised by low pay, excessive workloads, insecure contracts and systemic exploitation of migrant labour. 

Brenda Kanu, Radisson Blu Euston Square housekeeper and UVW member, said: 

“This time last year everybody was so miserable. We were doing 22 or more rooms, and all knew it was wrong. Everyone was sad.  But now everybody’s so happy. We should have stuck together to fight like this before, but people were scared. But since we joined the union and fought, we’ve solved our problems. You can see how happy people are.  UVW is the first union I’ve ever joined, I’m so happy. And I know that the union isn’t just for now; it’s for a long time. As long as we are working, as long as we are in this country, we need UVW because anything can happen. The union is there to support us.” 

Isabel Cortes, UVW Assistant General Secretary, said: 

“This is a decisive and inspiring victory for migrant women workers who are so often invisible and undervalued in the hospitality sector. Once again, housekeepers have shown that when workers organise, stand together and are ready to act, they can win real and transformative change. This win at Radisson Blu Euston Square puts hotel bosses across London on notice – exploitation will be challenged, and workers are organising.” 

ENDS 

For more information contact the UVW comms team. 

Isabel: 07706 987443 

Cristina: 07548 759340 

E-mail: comms@uvwunion.org.uk  

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