Trade unions and hotel industry: Current trends

Abstract

The subject of this article is to research the role of trade unions in the hotel industry in this century. Looking at trade union density across the Horeca sector in the EU27 plus Norway, it can be seen that overall density is relatively low (less than 15%), irrespective of the diversity within the Horeca sector in each country. Accordingly, the main objective of this article is to investigate the future of the trade unions in the hotel industry considering social and economic changes of the last few decades. It starts from four hypotheses, which refer to the attitudes of employees and union members towards the role of unions in the hotel industry and their power. The results of field research have served as primary data. The survey has been carried out among hotel employees (N=452) along the Adriatic coast in the summer season before the COVID-19 crises. In order to evaluate, formulate and present the findings, the following scientific methods have been applied: analysis and synthesis together with descriptive and inferential statistics.. The main finding of this paper points to the conclusion that employees who achieve high productivity do not have faith in the power of unions in the hotel industry. In terms of demographic variables, union employees above the age of 50 believe the least in the power of unions. These employees mostly point out that they are not adequately rewarded, that their superiors do not help them, and do not respect their working hours. The findings obtained may be significant for trade unions and their representatives to support them to form a new strategy that is necessary for unions to reach their goals.