"Victory!"

The cry arose at the exit of the representatives of the striking chambermaids of the Ibis Batignolles hotel in Paris, after 22 months of conflict and the signing, Tuesday, May 25, of an agreement providing for an improvement in their wages and working conditions.

The agreement grants in particular a basket bonus of 7.30 euros per day, work clothes supplied and cleaned by the employer, changes in qualifications leading to salary increases, the transfer of seven people to full-time, as well as 'an increase in the hours worked for others.

According to the CGT-HPE union (prestigious and economical hotels), salaries will increase "from 250 to 500 euros per month".

In front of the entrance to the establishment, with applause and no dancing, the twenty strikers greet the happy conclusion of the longest struggle ever led by the CGT-HPE.

The joy of the chambermaids of the #IbisBatignolles hotel Agreement signed this morning after 22 months of struggle.

"An invaluable victory. A relief" according to Rachel Keke @RFI pic.twitter.com/eBeMaa22oT

- Alexis Bédu (@alexisbedu) May 25, 2021

"We won, we won", "Slavery is over, abuse is over", "Rubbing, rubbing, you have to pay", "Solidarity", sing the chambermaids and their colleague team member, also on strike.

"We have a very good victory!", Rejoices Rachel Keke, one of the representatives of the strikers, waving the pages of the signed agreement.

"We must continue to show solidarity," she adds.

Employees of STN, a subcontractor company, the strikers savor their success.

"We are going to have a nice party", but "we will wait for the summer", promises Rachel Keke.

Mobilized since July 2019, the 19 chambermaids (two of whom were absent on Tuesday) and their team-mate went on strike for eight months, before falling into short-time work with the health crisis, while continuing to carry out "actions", as "Last week at the Pullman hotel" in Paris, said Aboubacar Traoré, the striking teammate, to AFP.

"Victory of dignity"

"We continued the fight even in partial unemployment", with "actions in hotels of the Accor group" (owner of the Ibis chain) and "we held on" until "victory", smiles Mama Ndiaye, chambermaid "for 11 years" at the Ibis Batignolles which has more than 700 rooms.

Now, "we will be able to do our work quietly", summarizes Deneba Diallo, in a long orange dress decorated with white lace.

Before, "the work was too hard, without a break, not even the right to drink water. There was no mercy for us."

Among the advances obtained, the strikers welcome the drop in the number of rooms to be cleaned per hour (three, instead of three and a half rooms previously).

Also, "overtime will be paid," on a "time clock" basis, and, "what's huge for us" is getting a break, "about 30 minutes for eat, breathe a little, "says Ms. Keke.

A downside: the strikers did not obtain their integration into Accor.

"In the process of making a social plan", the hotel group "must as a priority offer reclassifications" to its employees concerned, explains Claude Lévy of the CGT-HPE.

But "it is only a postponement", he believes.

As for the procedure launched before the industrial tribunal, it stops "in return" for "individual" compensation, adds Mr. Lévy, for whom this agreement, "is the victory of dignity".

A symbolic conflict

Since the start of this mobilization, the chambermaids of the Ibis Batignolles have been able to count on the support of numerous actors from civil society and the political world.

Several elected officials on the left have also hailed this victory obtained after nearly two years of mobilization. 

"Infinite respect for these incredible combatants", reacted in particular the rebellious deputy Danièle Obono.

🎉The struggle, and what a struggle (!!!), ended up paying off.

After 22 long and hard months of battle, the strikers at the Ibis Batignolles hotel have won!

✌️🏾Huge congratulations and infinite respect for these incredible fighters and the CGT HPE unionists by their side! ✊🏾 pic.twitter.com/btUoSNGoNo

- MP Obono (@Deputee_Obono) May 24, 2021

According to economist François-Xavier Devetter interviewed by AFP, this conflict is "symbolic of the specific organization of this work and the way it is delegated or relegated. It is also symbolic of what is obtained which is, for a certain number of points, only the application of labor law. "

"This is a fight with a very precarious, feminized population, in which the camp opposite is untouchable because of subcontracting," he adds.

"We can assume that it is the principal (Accor, Editor's note) who had to put pressure on his service provider so that in the end he gave in."

With AFP

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