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Ethical Travel Pledge
When we travel for work or pleasure, hotel housekeepers help us to feel comfortable away from home. They clean our rooms, fluff our pillows, and leave us chocolates.
We rarely see these housekeepers, and their invisibility has contributed to these workers being among the worst paid and most overworked members of the service industry. Hotel housekeepers, most of whom are women of color earn as little as $8.50 an hour, often are unable to take lunch or rest breaks, and have a rate of injury that is more than double the rate in the service industry as a whole. Those luxury beds, extra pillows, and warm comforters are heavy, and contribute to a high incidence of back and joint pain. More than two-thirds of housekeepers report taking pain killers just to get through the day.
Take the hotel guest pledge and do your part to help these women to secure better wages and safer working conditions.
After you take the pledge, you will have an opportunity to purchase a luggage tag, which will help you to remember your pledge, while also helping you to keep an eye on your luggage.
| Sample Letter for Campaign |
Subject: Hotel Guest Pledge
Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,
As a periodic hotel guest, I appreciate the hard work that hotel workers put into ensuring that I feel at home while away from home. These workers engage daily in the mitzvah (commandment) of hakhnasat or'chim (hospitality to guests), by cleaning rooms, making beds, and otherwise ensuring that I am as comfortable as possible.
I recognize that hotel work is difficult work. The rate of injuries for hotel housekeepers is 10.4%, more than double the injury rate for service sector workers as a whole, and two-thirds of housekeepers report taking pain medication just to get through the day. I also know that hotel housekeepers, most of whom are immigrant and minority women, often struggle to support their families through these jobs, which frequently pay as little as $8.50/hour, and which often offer no health insurance.
In order to help ensure the best possible lives for the workers who are facilitating my own travel, I pledge that:
- I will not stay in hotels that are in the midst of a labor dispute. I know that I can find updated information on current labor disputes at www.hotelworkersrising.org.
- When possible, I will stay in a union hotel. I understand that union workers in the service industry earn, on average, 33% more than non-union workers, and that unions provide the most effective vehicle for workers to secure fair wages and health care, and to register complaints about misconduct. I know I can find a union hotel at http://hotelworkersrising.com/HotelGuide
- I will tip the housekeepers who clean my room the suggested rate of $2-5 a day.
- I will take measures to save my housekeeper time and shoulder strain, including: Keeping my room as clean as possible, throwing trash in the garbage can, piling towels in an accessible location, and stripping the bedsheets.
- If I am pleased with the housekeeping service, I will fill out the provided comment card, knowing that the worker who cleaned my room might receive a bonus or special commendation if guests appreciate her or his work.
- I will keep a copy of this pledge in my suitcase or traveling bag in order to remind myself of these promises every time I travel.
Signed by:
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