Harrods workers from cleaners to shop floor and restaurant staff are set to strike in Christmas week, including during the upmarket department store’s key Boxing Day sales, in a dispute over pay and perks.
The United Voice of the World (UVW) independent union said 95% of its members at the Knightsbridge store had voted in favour of the strikes on 21, 22 and 26 December.
UVW said the workers had “no option” but to take action as Harrods’ management “refuses to recognise or engage with their union for negotiations”.
The dispute caps a difficult year for Harrods after a string of allegations of abuse of workers by the former owner Mohamed Al Fayed prompted a police investigation.
Meanwhile, it emerged in September that the retailer’s current Qatari owners paid themselves a second £180m dividend in a row last year despite a 35% fall in profits.
Alice Howick, a member of the waiting staff at Harrods and a UVW member, said: “The time has come for us, the workers, to put ourselves and our wellbeing first and push for more than the bare minimum.
“As one of the world’s leading luxury department stores, Harrods should be setting the standard for retail and hospitality workers,” she said. “Instead, we are earning the living wage and denied basic benefits such as a food allowance and Christmas bonus – something which should be commonplace in a company accumulating millions of pounds in profit year on year. Striking is a last resort for us and will only happen if Harrods continues to be unreasonable in responding to our demands.”
Harrods said: “Those that have voted to strike, which amounts to 176 employees (approximately 10% of colleagues collectively in these specific affected areas), are a fractional minority of our workforce and we have contingency plans in place over the Christmas period to ensure our services are not disrupted by this planned action.”
The workers are calling for an above-inflation pay rise and the introduction of an annual Christmas bonus starting with £500 this year. The union says some workers receive a £50 voucher to spend in Harrods, which is not easy to use.
They also want an end to mandatory bank holiday working for cleaners and to the policy of making part-time cleaners work for nine days without a break, as well as greater transparency on how the service charge for diners is divided among restaurant workers.
Petros Elia, the general secretary for UVW, said: “Contrary to what Harrods bosses say, we are still in a shameful period of their history. Their employees are still feeling the impact of a prevailing and deep-rooted toxic culture. Bosses at Harrods denying their dedicated workforce a Christmas bonus and fair wages while lavishing obscene sums on its billionaire owners is proof.”
Harrods said it had “engaged directly” through staff forums and did recognise some unions on pay and benefits, but UVW was “not a recognised union” and so it did not engage with the organisation. This year, the company increased the lowest rate of pay in London by 10% to £13.15.
A spokesperson said: “At Harrods we recognise the enormous contribution of our colleagues, particularly at busy trading periods such as Christmas … We are committed to working with our colleagues directly to address concerns, as we have been to date, and continue our constructive relationship with our recognised unions on pay and benefits.”
