After almost two years of conflict and long months of strike action, the chambermaids at the Ibis des Batignolles hotel in Paris signed an agreement with their employer on Tuesday.
This notably provides for their overtime to be taken into account and a reduction in the daily workload.
A record conflict of 22 months, including eight months on strike, from which they emerge victorious. The chambermaids at the Ibis des Batignolles hotel fought for almost two years to demand an increase in their salary and an improvement in their working conditions. An agreement was signed Tuesday morning with their employer, the STN company subcontracted by the Accor group.
Sylvie, one of the 17 chambermaids at the Ibis hotel, is one of those activists who spent months, summer and winter, on a bench just in front of the hotel, a fluorescent waistcoat on her back, banged on pots every morning to be heard by management.
Tuesday morning, she could finally let out her relief.
"If you yourself don't believe it, you shouldn't ask your boss to believe it for you. And here are the results!", She blurted out to Europe 1. "I don't. I can't even find the words, I'm so happy. We can say that we have earned our dignity. "
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"We will be able to come back to work with peace of mind"
With this agreement, employees gain in particular a time clock to count their overtime, packed lunches, a break during the day, and therefore fewer beds to make.
It is a big step for Aboubakar, a team member of the hotel: "We will be able to return to work serenely with all these achievements", he explains.
"Working directly with the Accor group, that will now be our main objective. We will not give up because our goal today is to no longer work with subcontractors," said this employee.
For now, it's time to celebrate, but with an eye on the future.
These employees will elect two employee representatives to lead their next fight against the Accor group.