[Encouragement to embattled hotel strikers should be drawn…]

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Encouragement to embattled hotel strikers should be drawn from the victory of women workers at Club One Bingo Halls in Coventry.

After eleven long weeks on strike, maintaining consistent picketing, the strikers have won management recognition of both T&GWU and NATKE as unions to represent them.

The winning of recognition now opens the door for the women to press their demands for improved wages and conditions, and is a major step forward in the fight for unionisation of low-paid labour in the town.

about the management the staff accommodation.

The date of the hearing had been advanced four weeks by judges order. So we had only two days to prepare a case. We got legal representation through Transport House in London but they lost the case.

How has the management to the picket?

The attitude of some of the management has been very provocative. On New Year's Eve the manager threatened some of us with a tile. But he didn't throw it. He was trying to intimidate us.

Altogether five of the pickets have been arrested. One case has already been dismissed for lack of evidence and the others come up in a few days.

The Trades Council has organised defence for them. Ana the Student Trade Union Liason Committee has been putting together the evidence for the defence.

How much help have you had from the union officials?

From the I&GWU, besides the unsuccessful defence in the High Court, all we've got so far is money and a lot of talk - words galore, about declaring war on the catering industry and showing them the muscle of the unions.

We haven't seen much of it so far.

• The day we were evicted we were supposed to store our stuff in RGO Iransport House. When we took Iown there the place was locked.

'The caretaker wouldn't give us the key without the authority of Hewlett or Buckle who were unavailable.

At our emergency union branch meeting we passed a resolution for an emergency district committee meeting to try to get wider support from the district.

We're also trying to get the MP, Luard, to commit himself on the question but we haven't heard anything yet.

What help do you need immediately?

The picket is the main issue. We want more pickets to try and harass the management as much as possible.

Because we've heard that the staff inside the hotel are getting fed up and are thinking of leaving. They've hardly been out since the strike started. It's like a prison.

How much are the management colluding with the Trust House Forte management?

We've only got hearsay. But we've been told that the manager is on the phone almost every day to the Randolph and Trust House Forte.

And of course the Randolph manager is in close touch with the manager of the Grosvenor House in Sheffield.