What: Launch of the Unite Hospitality Charter

When: 11.30am Monday 15^th May

Where: Outside the Europa Bus centre, Belfast

Ahead of the launch, Amy Ferguson, Unite Hospitality’s branch secretary, said:

“Our research shows that over 90% of workers in the hospitality industry have experience sexual harassment in the workplace. Bosses need to take this issue seriously with real zero tolerance policies. This is an issue for both workers and customers – for example in recent years we have seen an alarming rise in reported incidents of spiking.

“Our charter lays out clear steps employers must take to ensure sexism, abuse and harassment are stamped out of the workplace. This must involve dealing with the conditions that allow these things to thrive – low-pay that mean workers rely on tips, precarious contracts that mean your hours can be cut for reporting issues and so on.”

“This is linked to abuse and harassment in society generally” said Eva Martin, an activist with ROSA, “it is seen most starkly in the increase in gender violence in Northern Ireland and elsewhere. We need a collective movement of workers and young people to challenge sexism in and outside of the workplace.”

Unite Hospitality and ROSA will be campaigning for this charter across the hospitality industry in the next weeks and months.

For further information or a request for an interview contact Donal O’Cofaigh, Unite Campaigns, Communications & Press (NI) tel. 07810 157926; or Amy Ferguson, Unite hospitality, amy.ferguson@unitetheunion.org or Eva Martin, ROSA, evarosem123@gmail.com