What a fully unionised hotel looks like

THE Imperial Hotel is one of the great institutions of the hospitality sector in Cork city and its workers are stalwarts of our union in the “real capital”.

The workplace has had an organised union for more than four decades and ‘the Imperial’ continues to maintain a very well run workplace committee under the leadership of chief shop steward and NEC member, Tim Herlihy.

The impact of working in an establishment with a well-organised union is evident to pastry chef Rebecca McCarthy, who has worked in the Imperial for 14 years.

Before she came to work in the Imperial, she was employed in a hotel without workplace representation for 10 years.

“There is a very big difference between working in a unionised hotel compared to one that isn’t,” she told Liberty. “In a previous hotel where I worked you got paid for a 39-hour week but you could end up doing more hours. In the Imperial the management has to deal with issues such as overtime. I don’t think people in non-union hotels realise the difference when you work in an organised hotel. I think if they did, a lot more would join the union.”

Rebecca represents kitchen workers on the workplace commit- tee which oversees union activity in the hotel. The other sections in the hotel and their representatives are front of house, Christy Buckley; restaurant staff, Annette Browne; and maintenance and spa staff, Michael O’Brien.

“On the first Tuesday of every month the committee meets,” said Tim. “After that we meet with the HR department if there are issues to be addressed. We try and deal with all the issues that we can in- house but, if needed, we can call upon a union official.” When Tim gets an issue to deal with he will always attempt to deal with it by close of business on that day. He feels if it is not dealt with in a timely fashion it will impact negatively on hotel and this is not good for all involved.

He added: “We are very lucky here. We have a good committee that gels together and we are generally able to sort stuff out.”

Tim said: “The relationship between the company and the union committee is very good and we meet with the company every month just to see that everything is running smoothly. We have a new General Manager, who has worked in five star properties across Europe and is very well focused on the wellbeing of his employees. I’m looking forward to working closely with the General Manager and the HR manager to improve even better conditions for the members.”

Their work ensures that not only are workers’ rights fully respected but also that the hotel generally provides a better service for guests.

Annetta Browne said: “Having the union means if you ever have a problem with terms and conditions, staffing levels or such you can go to your shop steward. Get- ting your basic entitlements such as overtime, working on Sundays — that is what the main focus is on.

“The main issues the union would help with are rosters,” said Rebecca. “We don’t do split shifts anymore — that was a big issue. When I started here you could do three splits a week that was 8.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m. and then back at 6.00 p.m. to 11.00 p.m., now you might just work a longer day.”

The union has also been able to ensure that practices that are detrimental to staff and guests, such as ‘speed up’ have not been enforced. “There was an attempt to increase the number of rooms serviced each day by accommodation staff from 13 to 15 but that was re- solved through the intervention of the union,” said Michael O’Brien.

Michael represents approximately 40 members including those employed by a spa facility attached to the hotel. He added: “The spa has been there 13 years. Terms and conditions in the spa are at its highest because we have good union membership there. Their union membership is recognised and we generally operate as the one entity.”

A key place where SIPTU members in the hotel learn about the committee’s activities and keep up to date on developments through- out the union is from the information posted on the canteen notice board.

Tim said: “This is really important — keeping people up to speed on what is happening is crucial.”

The committee plays a leading role in negotiating collective agreements with management each year. The most recent agreement secured a 3% rise across the board for all employees. Among other clauses within the deal was one to ensure workers’ contracts were adjusted to fairly reflect the hours they regularly worked.

Christy said: “We wanted to have a two-year agreement. The management say they want to do it yearly because they say that they can’t financially plan longer than that at the moment.”

He adds that the energy that Tim brings to his role as chief shop steward has been key to the committee’s success. “When he gets an issue to deal with he is like a dog with a bone with it. He goes hunting right, left and centre and he will not give up on an issue until he gets it fixed.”

The importance of the whole committee to workers is also emphasised by Christy.

“We are here to help each other and we make sure we do. Many people in the hotel are young so they need people that have a long service to stand up for them. That is why the committee is so important — we have the experience, we have gone through it, we know what happens in hotels so at least we can be there to help them along.”

The importance of the union is something which Tim believes has to be promoted to new employees.

“We have to educate them about the benefits of a union, I have found that to be the case in particular with some migrant workers that have joined us in the last few years. However, once they have joined they are very clear of the benefits.”