Glasgow bar staff strike ‘will be first in Scotland for over 20 years’

Workers at a bar in Scotland’s largest city will be the first in the country to take strike action in 20 years, a union has claimed.

Staff at the 13th Note in Glasgow will stage a 48-hour walkout from noon on Friday until Sunday over what Unite claims is a failure of the owners to deal with concerns over pay and health and safety.

Industrial action will coincide with the busy Glasgow Fair public holiday over the weekend.

The workers will then take action every weekend until August 6.

Unite represents 95% of the workers employed at the venue, with 100% of members voting to support strike action.

Talks between the union, the bar’s owners and Acas are due to take place on July 19.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Unite’s members at the 13th Note bar in Glasgow are striking following the failure of the owners to make improvements on pay and on health and safety concerns.

“In what has become one of the first bar workers’ strikes in over 20 years, we support them and hope the owners now recognise the strength of the collective.

“These workers deserve credit for standing up for their rights in an industry that is riding roughshod over staff. Unite will back them 100% in their demands for better pay and safer working conditions.”

Nick Troy, a Unite rep at the 13th Note, said: “The owners of 13th Note should be under no illusion that improvements to wages, health and safety, as well as union recognition, are the only way this rift will be sorted.

“This action is a reflection of our determination to ensure fair treatment. The continuation of the strike action beyond this weekend is not inevitable if the concerns and demands of the workforce are resolved.

“Unite remains hopeful that talks at Acas could avert further action.”

The 13th Note has been contacted for comment.