Hospitality workers on the rise in Cardiff and Glasgow – fight to unionise the industry!

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It is fair to say that hospitality has taken a battering in the past few years. It’s estimated that over 750,000 hospitality jobs were lost as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the effects of lockdown, where the governments of the UK refused to take a serious approach to saving the jobs of working-class people.

And who could forget the ridiculous rules when hospitality first opened post-lockdown, which were detrimental to the mental health and working conditions of hospitality workers? These rules included having to order a ‘substantial meal’ with alcohol, where in some venues a scotch egg was sufficient! And then there was the ‘rule of 7’, which meant constant queuing and frustration, and was detrimental in fighting COVID because it didn’t guarantee social distancing. It was up to the ‘skeleton crew’ of hospitality workers to police all the rules, which was impossible and put us most at risk of infection.  

It would have been safer to keep  hospitality venues closed and guarantee full wages. Over the lockdowns, Youth Fight for Jobs recognised that workers, especially those on low pay, couldn’t afford to lose 20% of their income as per the furlough scheme. We campaigned for workers to receive full pay, paid directly to them by the government, not via untrustworthy employers.

Despite the difficulties faced by hospitality workers during the lockdowns, there were also significant victories. After a joint campaign from Unite and the Bakers Union, workers forced the hand of a particular hospitality boss not to use fire and rehire on their 45,000 staff and enrol them on furlough. And there were similar campaigns in Glasgow and Northern Ireland too.

From lockdown to fighting back: Unite Hospitality Cardiff launch workshop

I’ve been trying to organise hospitality workers in South Wales for a few years, so it’s exciting that we now have the potential to build something. There were around 15-20 hospitality workers at the launch workshop for Unite Hospitality Cardiff Branch in April. Some were in a union, others weren’t. I recognised some of them from having leafleted their workplaces, so it just shows that, given a lead, precarious workers will want to fight.

The workshop began with a talk on our legal rights and well-known issues that we all face at work, and the similarities are striking. Most hospitality workers don’t know, for example, that holiday pay should not be used to subsidise regular pay. And if managers want us to go home early, then we’re more than entitled to get paid for the full scheduled shift. The advice given to us was to screenshot rotas and keep a record of everything! That’s a step forward – but workers also need genuine control over our work patterns. That’s why Youth Fight For Jobs has consistently campaigned to establish democratically elected workplace committees to oversee rotas, as well as the distribution of tips, and workplace safety.

Youth Fight For Jobs has consistently campaigned to establish democratically elected workplace committees to oversee rotas, as well as the distribution of tips, and workplace safety.

Fighting for health and safety in and out of work

Another big problem we talked about was workers getting home after a night shift. This has particularly become a problem over the years as more and more bus routes have been cut to the bone.

One bar worker told us that their boss wanted them to stay for an extra hour, or would otherwise risk having their pay docked. They begged to go home as planned, as they were unsure if they could make their last train back to Newport. The boss said it wasn’t his problem. The worker ended up missing the last train, and had to pay for a hotel for the night! That’s more than a day’s wages gone. Also added to this are the threats faced by young women in particular when walking home late at night.

There’s been some progress, though, as Unite the Union started the ‘Get me home safely’ campaign, which tries to ensure hospitality venues with a late-night licence ensure their workers get home safe. There’s been significant victories in the Scottish Parliament and several councils in England too. And Unite the Union in Wales has managed to force the Welsh Government to fork out some funding to reverse cuts to bus services.

But there’s still much more work to do. The Welsh Labour Government and all councils must demand now that all hospitality venues ensure their workers can get home safe. This should include covering the transport costs of all workers, so that they can afford to get to and from work safely.

And let’s also not forget the massive reserves held by local authorities, including those controlled by Labour, which could be used now to reinstate and improve bus routes, including night-time services. Youth Fight for Jobs supports the official policy of my union, Unite, which calls on Labour councils to refuse to implement Tory cuts, and instead pass no-cuts, ‘needs budgets’.

Youth Fight for Jobs supports the official Unite policy which calls on Labour councils to refuse to implement Tory cuts, and instead pass no-cuts, ‘needs budgets’.

New hospitality organisers developing through struggle against bosses

This potential new union branch has mostly come off the back of Unite members at the Cardiff Glee Club. It’s a comedy club, with over 80% of its workers in the union. But to get the Glee Club to acknowledge that has not been easy. The workers applied for the employer to officially recognise the union. But there’s been a vicious, nasty union- busting campaign. The most active union members were not being invited to staff meetings, meetings where they were entitled to be at. And amazingly, the kitchen manager was temporarily suspended pending a disciplinary…for the crime of being on shift when there was an improved score from a health and safety inspection! When the kitchen manager let the bosses know that he was going to bring in a union rep in with him, the disciplinary was scrapped.

But since then, there’s been another bogus disciplinary. Another leading activist has been ‘demoted’, which means a 10% pay cut in a cost-of-living crisis. She had to wait for weeks to hear the decision, which is a suspiciously long amount of time. Unite Hospitality and the Cardiff Glee Club workers are furious. It’s clear that instead of engaging in a meaningful dialogue, the Cardiff Glee Club want to hide behind long disciplinary processes. And the workers are stepping up their campaign. There is a demo planned outside the Glee Club on July 12th. And the union are considering its next steps, legally and industrially.

More historic action

It’s not just in South Wales where there’s historic action on the cards. In Glasgow, in a recent ballot, 100% of union members asked at 13th Note café, said they would be willing to strike for a fairer and safer workplace with union recognition. They’re campaigning to get the real living wage. As one of the workers said: “The only real solution can be to reinstate it to ensure that workers feel invested in…Tips should not be considered our wage, as they are not something given to us by the company – it is separate money we earn, optionally given by the customer.” Youth Fight For Jobs again puts forward the demand for democratically elected workplace committees to oversee the distribution of tips, as well as rotas and workplace safety.

And it looks like the strike will go ahead, which will be the first bar strike in over 20 years! At the same time, the owner is gearing up for their union busting campaign too. They issued ‘at risk of redundancy notices’ to the workers. What followed was an influx of solidarity from the trade union movement. Unite Hospitality’s first and biggest branch in Glasgow pledged £10000 to the strike fund within 24 hours of this news breaking. And Unite Cardiff General Branch pledged £500.

After an emergency meeting, the redundancy notices for the time being are off the table. This just shows how much power solidarity and collective action can have.

The 13^th note strike will start on Friday the 14^thJuly, at 11:45am where they will be on strike for 48 hours. This will continue every Friday for 3 weeks. 

Fight for trade union struggle to transform hospitality industry

It’s an exciting time for those hospitality workers who are fighting back. The strike wave has had an influence; hospitality bosses and the industry has plenty of money: so why can’t the people who work there get more of the dough? We need to fight to end low pay, for trade union struggle for a £15/hr minimum wage. Abolish youth rates!

We need to fight to end low pay, for trade union struggle for a £15/hr minimum wage. Abolish youth rates!

The Unite Hospitality combine is now meeting regularly.  It meets once every few months and has been vital in assisting the formation of new Unite Hospitality branches around the UK, with many more to come, I’m sure. Supporters of Youth Fight for Jobs have been active in the combine since its creation 2 years ago.

As hospitality becomes busier over the summer, no doubt many more students and young workers will be trying to think of the best way to stop low pay and overwork. Lets get out on the streets and engage with these young people, to continue the campaign to unionise hospitality, and get better pay and conditions for all. And victory to the hospitality workers who are in dispute!