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16.02.2026 / News / radisson blu

After historic hotel strike win, Radisson Blu housekeepers take trade union recognition fight to CAC tribunal 

“Union recognition means that when they try to do things like they did before, when they cut our hours or increased our workload, we have a way to fight back against it earlier and make them sit down with us.”

Housekeeper at Euston Square Radisson Blu hotel

Housekeepers outsourced to WGC Ltd at two Radisson Blu hotels — Canary Wharf and Euston Square — have submitted applications for statutory recognition at the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC).  

Last summer the housekeepers at Radisson Blu Canary Wharf, all UVW members, went on strike over poor pay, punishing workloads and cuts in hours implemented when WGC took over the cleaning contract for the hotel chain. Their strike action – the first hotel strike in England since 1979 – resulted in a historic victory with the employer conceding all their demands. The workers at the Canary Wharf hotel were predominantly migrant women, largely from Nepal and India.  

Inspired by their colleagues’ success, housekeepers at Radisson Blu Euston Square organised collectively and successfully secured the same improvements through campaigning and negotiations, without taking strike action.  

The housekeepers, all members of the United Voices of the World (UVW) union, are now seeking formal recognition at both hotels, and, if successful, this would mark the first union recognition agreement for hotel workers at Radisson Blu in the UK. Workers say formal union recognition is now essential to safeguarding these gains and ensuring they have a meaningful voice in workplace decisions. 

One of the Radisson Blu Euston Square housekeepers said: “Recognition is important because it means that whatever decision WGC takes, they must go through us. It means that when they try to do things like they did before, when they cut our hours or increased our workload, we have a way to fight back against it earlier and make them sit down with us. Recognition means we know we have the union behind us, and we can protect ourselves better.” 

UVW already represents a supermajority of housekeepers at both hotels. Under statutory recognition rules, only 50% workforce membership is required for the CAC to grant recognition. The CAC process should not be necessary if the employer adopted a cooperative and constructive approach — it would save time and resources for everyone involved. 

Winning recognition would set an important precedent in the hospitality sector, which has long been characterised by low pay, excessive workloads, and low levels of unionisation. 

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