Abstract
George Orwell in his classic Down and Out in Paris and London described the hotel industry’s work system as an elaborate caste system, with a prestige graded system to that of a soldier. The elaborate management system placed the manager at the top, followed by the maître d’hôtel, head waiter, head cook, chef du personnel, other cooks, waiters, laundress, apprentices, the plongeurs (menial tasks in the restaurant), chambermaids and cafetières, in that order. A key feature of hotels was the division of labour from the concierge, who looks after arrivals and departures, to the porter, receptionist, housekeeping, restaurant, the maître d’hôtel with its distinct hierarchy, from the head waiter to the junior commis. The kitchen, led by the chef de cuisine, may be divided up into corners, and at the bottom of the occupational structure is the kitchen porter, who works with many other people in the hotel...
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Recommended Citation
Croke, Norman
(2025)
"An Outline History of the Unionisation of Hotel, Restaurant and Catering Workers in Dublin,"
European Journal of Food Drink and Society:
Vol. 5:
Iss.
1, Article 14.
Available at:
https://arrow.tudublin.ie/ejfds/vol5/iss1/14