Bed linen strike hits Ramada Jarvis

Three Ramada Jarvis hotels were forced to find alternative ways of cleaning their bed linen last week when contract laundry workers staged a one-day strike.

The strike in Bradford involved 100 laundry workers at Initial Textile Services, a sister company to Initial Catering Services within the Rentokil Initial Group.

Rachel Dixon, organiser at the GMB union, said workers had seen their earnings rise at a level below inflation for the past six years. Most earn between £5 and £5.30 an hour.

While Initial has raised its offer from 2.5% to 2.75% in the past five months, Dixon said this was still well below the rate of inflation.

She added that members had been further angered by top-level executives receiving pay packages worth £800,000.

The strikers said they were prepared to take further action, despite receiving no strike pay.

Jarvis said the strike had no impact on its business, while Rentokil Initial was unavailable for comment.

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