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Community leaders from Citizens UK and representatives from Unite and ShareAction have joined forces to ask Premier Inn operator Whitbread to commit to paying a real living wage at its annual general meeting.
Being the UK’s biggest hotel chain and also owning other hospitality businesses, including Beefeater and Brewers Fayre, the group reported a pre-tax profit of £375m last year.
The local community alliances dressed up in pyjamas and night caps, and distributed door privacy hangers with information about the real living wage outside of the group’s headquarters in Dunstable, where the AGM was taking place.
This was in response to Premier Inn’s slogan ‘rest easy’, and how low-paid workers cannot ‘rest easy’ without fair pay, particularly in a cost-of-living crisis.
As a UK market leader in the hospitality sector, the alliances believe that Whitbread accreditation to pay a real living wage would ensure thousands of staff receive a wage uplift, and bring additional business benefits; 86% of living wage accredited employers say implementation of the wage improved their reputation, whilst 60% say it improved recruitment of employees into their business.
Recent data from the ONS found the hospitality sector has 132,000 vacancies, increasing the need for employers to invest in their workforce and attract fought-over talent.
There are currently over 13,000 accredited living wage employers, including 55 of the FTSE100.
A Premier Inn housekeeper and Unite member said: “As a housekeeper at Premier Inn, we have been on the frontline of the post-pandemic labour shortage. Our site is constantly short of team and the demands of the job are ever more.
“We used to have between eight and 12 departures a day to clean, now we have 14 to 17 per day. The pressures are leading to more exhaustion, more staff leaving and increasing pressure for those of us that are left.”
They added: “Value us and send a message that as hospitality market leaders you value your team. By signing up to be a real living wage employer you can help prevent labour shortages and make us feel wanted. It would cost a fraction of the profits but make a real difference to us.”
