Fuck This Hotel and Housekeeping

Watcha, my name's Olga, I am an immigrant, and I've been working in this high end central London  hotel for six months. Rooms here cost between £600 to £5000 per night. I'd need to work two weeks to be able to sleep one night in a bed that I make. I clean sixteen, eighteen, twenty rooms per day.

I'll be frank reader - I'm treated like a piece of shit. Every day I am shouted at. Every day I am ordered around and disrespected. This shouldn't happen to anyone.

Today's dispute was with the male supervisor. He was a porter just 2 months ago.

It’s 4:05pm and I'm on my last room, finishing my shift, when the supervisor rocks up to tell he needs a room cleaning to VIP standard. I tell him that I am leaving as it’s the end of my shift now, but he insists. "You must clean a room V-I-P" (flashing eyes, pointed letters). I refuse - it’s already after my shift. It’s his responsibility to check all the rooms done previously and if something is not to his taste and needs to be redone, I tell him sure, we can do it, but, not at that time. He did not sign my rooms list for this reason. I'm seething. 

Let me take you back a few hours.

Earlier this morning when I had 2 minutes to go until my lunch break the same supervisor came to my floor – Floor 10 - and told me to go to floor 9 and inform the housekeeper that she has a service and that she can clean it when she has time.

I tell him that it's his job to do this and he admits that is the case, however he claims he is busy and has to deliver a shirt that he is carrying (points to the wrinkled shirt a client has given to be washed and ironed). I agree to do him the favour and go. 

When I go down to floor 9 I notice that the room is already being cleaned.

I leave the room and take the lift back up to the canteen. 

It’s when I enter the canteen that I see him there with his plate full already on the table. He looks up an down again shiftyly. 

Ok. So, that means he asked me to do his tasks in order for him to have more time for his lunch, when I have to count my minutes and organise my time to clean rooms and have lunch that lasts 30 minutes - And my lunchbreak is not paid.

He tucks in to his food looking at his phone whilst I wait in the lunch line looking at my watch.

When this supervisor did not sign my room list at the end of the day, I reminded him of his trick to have more time for himself. This got him upset and he reproached me that I did not do the job properly in 3 rooms and that I had to do it because it is my obligation. I told him I did not do the job because it was already done by the time I finished my floor. That is the reason why.

My defence hung in the air. He blinked a few times. 

This bloke y'all, is just walking around all morning, stalking the corridors pretending to look busy and passing down his shit and talking down to me and everyone on the floor. This is why this argument happened. He is well known for that and in fact there is a rumour saying that he will stop working as a supervisor quite soon.

Even if he is demoted, our treadmill keeps turning. And will the person replacing him respect us? I doubt it. I feel that noone does.