London hotel workers are being exploited with low pay and “shameful” employment practices, a trade union has claimed.
Chefs have suffered accidents caused by tiredness and hotel staff do not have time to eat or have a break, the union Unite has said.
The union’s regional secretary for London said working standards are making the city “one of the most unethical tourist destinations in the world”.
According to the union, many migrants are employed in London’s hotels and are being left exhausted after their shifts because of long hours and staff shortages.
Peter Kavanagh, Unite's London regional secretary, said: "The London hotel sector is failing its workforce. It has become a byword for low pay and exploitation. If these stories tell us anything, it is that shameful work practices, similar to those exposed at Sports Direct, have no place in 21st-century Britain.
"Low pay, zero-hour contracts and open hostility to trade unions have become standard practice, making London one of the most unethical tourist destinations in the world.
"It is a sad fact that hotel workers in places like Manila and Buenos Aires are shown more respect when it comes to their basic human and trade union rights, than workers in the capital of the world's fifth largest economy."
The union is staging a protest in the capital on Tuesday to highlight its complaints.
