Hotel rooms have become more extravagant over the past decade and the time needed to clean a room has increased. According to a study entitled "Creating Luxury, Enduring Pain" by Unite Here (the primary union representing hotel workers in the United States), housekeepers have the most dangerous jobs at hotels and have an injury rate of more than one in ten workers-almost twice that of other hotel employees. In 2001, the standard number of rooms for a housekeeper to clean had risen from 12 per day to 18 per day. At one pricey hotel chain, it was estimated that a housekeeper who cleaned 15 rooms stripped approximately 500 pounds of soiled linens and replaced those with 500 pounds of clean linens . . . resulting in back and shoulder injuries, carpal tunnel syndrome, and bursitis.

Two articles relating to this situation are Komp, "How Hotel Work Is Hurting Housekeepers," Ergoweb (May 10, 2006) (http://www.ergoweb.com/news/detail.cfm?print=on&id=1616; last accessed 4/26/09) and Frumin et al., "Workload-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders among Hotel Housekeepers: Employer Records Reveal a Growing National Problem" (April 19, 2006) (http://www.hotelworkersrising.org/pdf/ hskpr_analysis0406.pdf; last accessed 4/26/09).

a. Why is it necessary for hotels to establish a standard for number of rooms to be cleaned by housekeepers?
b. The average annual wage of housekeepers is $17,340, although this may be higher at the larger hotel chains. The large hotel chains are, however, attempting to eliminate health-care benefits with the wage increases. Given the rate of job injuries, do you believe that the housekeepers are better off with the lower wage and healthcare benefits or a higher wage and no healthcare benefits? Explain.
c. In an 8-hour day (480 minutes), cleaning 15 rooms amounts to approximately 32 minutes per room. What makes it difficult for a housekeeper to strip and remake a bed, vacuum, lightly dust, and clean a bathroom in that period of time?