Branch members were amongst thoses suporting the demonstration at the Glasgow School of Art on 31st October. Unite members have been, and are, being treated abominably by their employer. The workers have issued the following statement:
"We are workers at The Art School bar &
venue on Scott Street. We are also students and alumni of the GSA.
This August, after years of loyal service,
we were ‘invited’ to an unpaid meeting with your Student President and hatchetmen hired by the GSA, at which we were told our hours would be cut to zero with immediate effect. We were told that GSASA Ltd., trading as The Art School, was about to collapse and that severe cuts to wages were the only solution to save the business, and that we
wouldn’t get any hours till Freshers Week. In the meantime, we were unable to pay rent or bills.
Following a sustained campaign and
positive negotiations with senior management in September, we were assured that front-of-house staff would be issued new contracts guaranteeing minimum hours per week as well as the paid breaks and staff benefits already assured in previous terms.
Not even a month later, senior management
have already reneged on these commitments, revoking paid breaks and failing to honour the guarantee of minimum hour contracts, with some staff– especially those who speak out– receiving no hours at all. While many of us have been left with no hours or wages, senior management have sought to bring in more staff and have paid
them substantially more– despite claiming
there isn’t enough money to give us
minimum hour contracts!"
