Undercover as a hotel cleaner in Ireland: ‘Lifting the heavy mattress, I cry tears of rage and exhaustion’ | Saša Uhlová

We struggle to secure payslips or a schedule - and in an 11-hour shift I barely have time for a bathroom break

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There is no one at reception when I arrive at the hotel in a small town about 50km from Dublin, so I go to the bar and, as instructed, ask for the duty manager. Mia, do you know where James is?" the young waiter calls to a passing colleague - in Slovak.

I had been interviewed online for the hotel cleaning job I applied for through an agency back in my home country, the Czech Republic. Did I mind that the hotel was in a secluded location with nothing to do in the evening, they'd asked me in the interview. I'd said no, that I like solitude. Now I am being shown around the hotel and the kitchen, where I meet the cook and two other guys - all of them Slovaks. Just as I was surrounded by Poles while on the farm in Germany, here I feel I could be in Slovakia. The cook, taking a break, tells me that it is his last day. I ask if he is leaving because of the low pay. He breathes in slowly and says that he's leaving because of the stress.