The General President of SIPTU has said today's closure of the Burlington Hotel in Dublin is a major setback for the Irish tourism industry and for the 400 employees who have worked there.
Jack O' Connor says that in the Ireland of 2008, what the hotels and tourism sector throws into sharp relief is the contrast between the race to the top in terms of accumulating profits, and the race to the bottom in terms of driving down pay and conditions for the workers generating those profits.
In a statement, he says the temporary shutdown of Jurys and the Berkeley Court hotels in Ballsbridge as not so much closures as 'rollovers' followed by re-openings with new staff on poorer pay and conditions.
Mr O'Connor says apart from the price being paid by those who have given long and loyal service and the new vulnerable entrants on the other there are also long term consequences for the rest of society.
The most immediate of these, he says, is the loss of well paid jobs, established skills and potential skills development in a key sector of the Irish economy.
