Two-month wage strike at Louvre Hotels Group

Rain of confetti, loud music, frantic dancing: Tuesday, in scorching heat, at the call of the CGT HPE, the strikers of the Campanile hotels in Suresnes and Gennevilliers (Hauts-de-Seine), joined by their Marseille colleagues of the Golden Tulip Villa Massalia, invaded the ground floor of the Campanile hotel in Paris-La Villette in joyous disorder. On the 55th day of a strike that began on May 26, still with the same determination, they demanded from the parent company, Louvre Hotels Group, a salary increase of 300 euros net, a seniority bonus, as well as the generalization of the night bonus.

“triple discrimination”

Chef de partie in the kitchens of the Golden Tulip Villa Massalia, Véronique earns only 1,700 euros, after eight years of career. « Salaries are so low that we have lost a lot of staff. With the pandemic, many have preferred to convert. In this sector, employers have the greatest difficulty in recruiting., testifies this CGT union delegate. In the same establishment, Clarisse, a young chambermaid hired a little over a year ago, earns 900 euros per month. “I work five hours a day, five days a week. In five hours, I have to make 14 or 15 rooms, she calculates. It can go up to 5 or 7 on some days. We want better wages! »

Coming to support these strikers, women of foreign origin for the majority of them, the communist senator Laurence Cohen does not hesitate to ridicule “triple discrimination”. “Your working conditions are inadmissible, with hellish speeds. Your salaries, which are too low, absolutely do not take into account the arduousness of your work. If these hotels are standing, with a prestigious image, it is nevertheless thanks to you! » she says to applause. Following her, the rebellious MP Rachel Keke, former victorious striker at the Ibis-Batignolles hotel, encourages these women whose trying working conditions she knows well (read our interview on page 5).

Fuzzy answer and cheap offers

Hamida nods. She herself has worked for eighteen years at the Campanile hotel in Gennevilliers, where she is responsible for breakfast (see Humanity of June 30). His monthly salary: 1,500 euros. “We can’t do it anymore, with all the work we do. That’s why everyone leaves: chambermaids, dishwashers, administrative staff, laundry workers, receptionists. The CGT is often obliged to intervene to obtain payment for overtime and night bonuses”she sighs.

Solicited by HumanityLouvre Hotels Group did not wish to answer our questions, claiming to await the result of « ongoing discussions ». In Marseilles, three « discussion » sessions have so far only resulted, according to the strikers, in “fuzzy answers” and “discount offers”. In Suresnes and Gennevilliers, the CGT union delegates claim not to have “no news from management”. “They keep telling us that they won’t give in, as if our demands were whims! » Hamida is offended. At his side, Ali, technician at Campanile de Suresnes, promises not to back down: “We cannot go on strike for two months and drop the case. »R.M.