Maid in a Union

One of the most striking aspects of the recent show of force by hotel maids in New York (voicing their frustration and anger at the privileged treatment of Dominic Strauss-Kahn even in the face of an allegation of rape) is that firstly, the majority of workers degraded daily with similarly agressive, violent behaviour, are in the main black and Latino and second, it is only their union which is providing the essential voice to a collective grievance.

Where are the hotel chains in demanding that their customers behave more appropriately towards their staff? Any comments from the Mayor's office or New York's tourism board? The silence, they say, is deafening.

Local 6 of the Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees International Union (HEREIU) (http://www.heardny.org/Local%206%20Info.htm) is working closely with its members across the vast network of hotels in New York to articulate a wide range of closely related issues that have been underlined by the severity of the Strauss-Kahn case.

The coverage of the dignified assembly of women (it is mainly women) workers affected by daily abuse from largely rich, male hotel 'guests' has been effective, albeit limited: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/10/new-york-maids-reveal-dirt

It is shame that it took the disgraced head of the IMF to help articulate a live, tangible crisis in the lives fof these hard working women, but so be it. The hard work now it seems is to convince hotel chains to defend their staff from the form of harassment and intimidation that senior hotel employees would not accept.

It will be very interesting to watch the coverage of the trial unfold but once the carnival is ended to see what in practice changes for these workers on the front line of misogny coupled with intimidation and violence.

Ian Manborde (Ruskin College, Oxford)