by Zoe Streatfield

EXPLOITED hotel workers and trade unionists piled the pressure on profiteering Britannia Adelphi bosses yesterday as RMT staged a flash-mob demo outside Liverpool’s iconic Adelphi hotel.

Profits for the hotel group have jumped by 40 per cent and Britannia’s owners have shared an eye-watering dividend of £35 million, while hard-working staff struggle on the minimum wage and zero-hours contracts.

And now greedy hotel managers want to slash the time allowed to clean a room by 20 per cent and reduce back-of-house staff to “ludicrously inadequate levels.”

RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: “The Adelphi is supposed to be one of Britain’s premier hotels, yet its hard-working staff are on appalling pay and conditions.”

Mr Cash warned that “for too long they have treated their staff as expendable, with rock-bottom wages, no sick pay scheme and the imposition of insecure zero-hours contracts on the very people they rely on to make their profits.

“It is a source of shame that a hotel chain that rakes in millions should seek to exploit any and every means to squeeze ever more out of its staff.

“And anyone who dares point out that cutting cleaning time and putting even greater burdens on already overworked staff is bad for business is faced with the threat of suspension and disciplinary action.”

RMT membership has “rocketed” at the hotel in recent months, said the union.

Workers are launching a campaign to secure decent pay and job security.

Britannia Adelphi were unavailable for comment.

zoestreatfield@peoples-press.com