HotelWorkers.org.uk

Last night I went to a very special cafe in Bandung. The cafe is called BJ’s but it is better known to its patrons as the ”Solidarity Cafe” and the story behind it should be an inspiration to us all.
16 months ago the workers at the Hotel Aquila joined the FSPM and demanded to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement to improve terms and conditions.
The hotel responded by sacking all the 136 union members.

The stories I keep hearing from workers here in Indonesia are very familiar to me. I've met 6 union chairmen (a union chairman fulfills the same role as a shop steward) and they told me about their struggles to build the union in their hotels. At one 5 star the chairman got sacked and the union mounted noisy demonstrations outside the hotel and forced the international management to meet with them which resulted in reinstatement and a negotiated collective bargaining agreement. As always in struggle there are defeats as well as victories.

I've been in Jakarta for two very busy days now. I was met by Hema from the IUF and members of the Executive of our Sister Union the FSPM including the General Secretary, Benny Nasution.

This 1st February branch meeting should be attended.

The three main agenda points are....

1...the bi=annual branch elections; if you want to get involved be there.

2...Kevin Curran's report on hotel conditions in South Africa and
Australia, with his home videos, (we hope).

3...The General Election, 2010. Should we support Labour? We think that
voting for Labour is the only way to have a chance of decency and
progress in the next five years. Come along for an open and real
discussion about what a Conservative Victory might mean and why

I accompanied an LHMU hotel organiser to a hotel where the union is close to securing a recognition agreement. I sat in the staff canteen and was able to talk to many of the workers and learn of their experiences. I spoke with housekeepers, porters, receptionists and food and beverage workers. This hotel used to be a Ritz Carlton 10 years ago and i was able to learn of the differences between then and now as it's owned by an international chain. Without exception each worker said that not only were the employment conditions worse but so was the service provided to guests.

For the last two days i've been in Sydney establishing contact with our Sister union the LHMU. I have had meetings with the officers and staff of the LHMU hotels organising team operating in Sydney and the state of New South Wales (NSW).

Phillip Nkosi began work as a waiter in a Sun International hotel in Johannesburg 24 years ago. For the last 22 years he has also been the Shop Steward representing and negotiating on behalf of his fellow workers. Phillip made the decision to become active in his union because he witnessed too much injustice and decided he couldn't stay quite on the sidelines. He has provided leadership ever since.

Sorry about the last couple of days. I had a malfunction followed by an electric storm that knocked out the power supply and the wi-fi - and it's supposed to be summer here!
Saccawu has been very busy trying to resolve their dispute with Sun International and are presently consulting with their members while the management's negotiating team reports back to their Board.

I have spent the day getting an understanding of the Hotel Sector here in (a very wet!) Johannesburg.I was very fortunate that two of our Brothers in SACCAWU met with me to give me the benefit of their experience. Lucas Ramatlhadi is the Administration Co Ordinator for SACCAWU and Mike Sikani is the National Education Secretary for the union. Both men are involved in the dispute with Sun International (about which more later) but found the time to assist me.