19.08.2025 / News /

Hotel workers and Bar staff united!

“We will not be silenced, hospitality jobs can be made better, and the workers can be treated with respect; now is time for our employer to hear this and stop hiding behind excuses!” – Brune, bar staff at Draughts and UVW member

Saturday 9 August 2025 was one for the history books… and the songbooks. Some 70 striking workers and supporters filled the streets outside the Radisson Blu hotel in Canary Wharf and then they took the tube to Draughts board game café in Waterloo, London!

It was one of the loudest, happiest and funniest picket the labour movement has seen in years. With drummer Taty Tambo pounding the rhythm of resistance, Fraser McGuire of Unite Hospitality travelling from Derby to lend solidarity, and a crowd that danced, sang, and even played games of Jenga.

The strikes brought together two groups of workers fighting on different fronts of the same battle: the right to secure, dignified and fairly paid work.

At Radisson Blu, outsourced housekeepers — mostly migrant women from Nepal — have had their contracted hours slashed from 40 to as few as 16 a week by outsourcing giant WGC, while their daily room quotas almost doubled from 14 to 24. On just £13 an hour, they say these cuts have pushed them to breaking point. They are demanding a return to 40 guaranteed hours and the London Living Wage of £13.85. Theirs was the first hotel workers’ strike in England since 1979, when chambermaids at the Grosvenor House Hotel on Park Lane took strike action in response to the dismissal and eviction of 30 of their colleagues. The protest stood out as a rare example of hotel staff industrial action in the UK since the end of the Second World War.

Doris, Deputy Head Housekeeper at Radisson Blu and UVW member, said: “I want my team to have their guaranteed hours back, along with a manageable workload and a decent wage. This matters deeply—everything is expensive, and we all have to pay rent and put food on the table. We need the security of knowing we’ll have enough hours tomorrow, so we can live with dignity and care for our families. We’re more than just coworkers—we’re like a family. When my team is struggling, I feel it too. I’ve worked with them for over 10 years, and it hurts to see them sad or stressed. I feel a deep responsibility to support and stand by them. When I was told my hours would be cut from 40 to just 16, I was shocked and devastated. After dedicating 30 years of my life to this work, it felt like everything was being taken away. I didn’t know what to do. But then I found UVW, and it was like a weight was lifted. Their support has been incredible—they truly listened and understood my story. And I know I’m not alone—my whole team feels the same way. It’s hard to even put into words.”

Meanwhile at Draughts, bar staff are taking a stand against zero-hour contracts, insecure working conditions, and loss of income due to the replacement of table service with QR code ordering. Employed on zero-hour contracts, they report frequent last-minute shift cancellations that leave them without income or any work-life balance. Workers had peacefully delivered their demands in person, only to be met with silence and disregard from management. They are calling for fixed-hour contracts, paid training, a return to table service, and evening on-site security.

Pearl, bar staff and UVW member, said: “I’m disheartened that it has come to a strike. While I was mentally prepared, this whole time I thought that surely, they’ll be reasonable and have an actual conversation with us. Surely, it’s a win-win if they engage just with us meaningfully. I am exasperated by their reactions so far, and I struggle to make sense of all of it. But the situation will not stop me from standing up for myself. We want to be heard, we want to be treated with respect, and we will not cower.”

On the picket lines, chants, music, and laughter spilled into the streets as tourists, passers-by and even hotel guests stopped to listen. People danced, clapped along to the drums, and even competed in games of Jenga and other board games — a nod to the Draughts strikers — showing that a picket can be both powerful and joyful.

This strike is a historic turning point; hotel housekeepers, alongside bar staff, are taking collective action for the first time in over 46 years. Low pay and insecurity aren’t inevitable — they’re political choices. And these workers are showing they can be defeated.

Support the workers, donate and share their strike fund >>