Staff at a Glasgow bar will go on strike later this month for three weeks in a dispute over working conditions and pay.
Unite the Union confirmed the strike action at the 13th Note will start on Friday, July 14 , and it will last every weekend until August 6. The union said they represent 95 per cent of the workers employed at the venue.
The industrial action at the King Street bar in the city centre will be the first official strike voted for by bar workers in 20 years, with Unite the Union stating that 100 per cent of staff voted for strike action on a majority turnout.
The escalating dispute centres on the trade union’s campaign to secure better wages and improvements to health and safety.
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In May of this year, 13th Note was ordered to close after environmental health officers visited the café following a video emerging showing a mouse scurrying around the tables.
Unite general secretary, Sharon Graham said: “Unite’s members at the 13th Note bar in Glasgow are united in taking a stand, in what could be the first bar workers’ strike across the UK in over 20 years. That says a lot about them. But it surely also says a lot about their employer."
Bryan Simpson, Lead Organiser for Unite Hospitality, said: “Unless the owners of 13th Note get back around the negotiating table to propose improvements to wages, health and safety as well as union recognition, the rift between the owner and workers will only grow wider.”
Unite’s lead rep at 13th Note, Nick Troy, added: "For seventeen weeks, we have been trying to reason with the management at 13th Note. From wages to hygiene, to understaffing and our demands for union recognition, we're still not being properly listened to. Surely the strength of the strike vote shows it’s time for that to change."
13th Note owner Jacqueline Fennessy previously told Glasgow Live last week: "Unite the Union do not have 100% support for strike action from 13th Note staff.
"Only 10 union members actually voted in the ballot, out of 17 union members eligible. There are no health and safety concerns.
"All staff are paid above the living wage."
