13th Note staff accuse Glasgow bar chiefs of 'delays' over dispute

Employees at 13th Note in the Merchant City claim they have been waiting since March 9 for a second round of negotiations with bosses amid allegations of poor pay and zero-hour contracts.

Unite the Union now say its members will have 'no choice but to escalate the dispute and consider action' - unless there's a firm commitment from management to tackle pay, contracts and recognition of the trade body.

It’s understood that some improvements have been made in relation to health and safety issues outlined in the initial complaint made seven weeks ago, but workers claim most of their main concerns remain unaddressed.

Nick Troy, Kay Logan, Brendan Armstrong and Fraser Jack (Image: Newsquest)

Chef Nick Troy, 25, exclusively told the Glasgow Times: “The owner has failed to provide a list of 10 possible dates to meet for further negotiations. Instead we have been handed a date for a meeting when two of our reps are away on holiday. We're also still waiting on the HR report to arrive and it's just not good enough. 

“Staff have had enough and want action to iron out these issues. People are struggling to survive and pay their bills, getting by on zero-hour contracts that offer absolutely no security.

“We need better pay and stable employment. We shall be considering our next steps, possibly industrial and legal action, if we don't see movement in the coming weeks. We are sick of being pushed to the brink and are no longer willing to accept our current working conditions.”

A collective letter to owners on behalf of the Unite members has urged management to act before matters escalate further. 

It says: “We express our concern over the significant delay in addressing issues raised in our collective grievance that was filed over six weeks ago.

“Not only are we yet to receive the report from your HR representative - despite our meeting having been held over a month ago - but you are also yet to supply us with a written timeline detailing how you will address the health and safety concerns raised, as was agreed upon in our meeting. This abnormally long interval has also further postponed a second round of negotiations regarding pay, contracts and trade union recognition.

"As we are sure you will agree, this is an unacceptable amount of time for our members to wait for a settlement to this dispute during an increasingly intense and rapidly developing cost-of-living crisis."

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The letter also accuses bar bosses of pushing workers onto the breadline by alleging the business has put them on the minimum wage.

It adds: “We recognise that some changes in response to our collective grievance have been made, however these have been sporadic and inconsistent, and thus fail to adequately address our concerns. In addition to our concerns regarding the lack of action or communication since our last meeting, we have a list of other problems which have either not been tackled in the last month or have arisen since then.

“Several members of the kitchen staff have been returned to national minimum wage at the turn of the financial year, despite it being previously claimed that no chefs should be getting paid this rate.”

It's understood that the owner has now responded to the union's follow-up letter - and insists that 13th Note 'takes the welfare of staff seriously'.

The bar's owner told the Glasgow Times: “I have responded to the collective grievance in a timely manner. There has been an open line of communication between Unite and myself since the grievance was lodged. All correspondence has been responded to in a timely manner. I take the welfare and morale of my staff very seriously and I am keen to reach a resolution. 

“A productive meeting was held on March 9, where the staff and union representatives and I commissioned an HR company to investigate all grievances raised and issue me a full report with their findings and matters to be addressed. This report is imminent. 

"In the meantime, no staff at the 13th Note are being paid £6.83 and as a matter of policy, no staff will be paid this wage at any time in the future. I dispute that staff have been working 12-hour shifts without a break, however, to ensure this categorically does not happen, a break diary was put in place a number of weeks ago where staff confirm in writing they have had their allocated paid break. 

"All staff have routinely been given the number of working hours they request. All contracts will formally stipulate the guaranteed hours." 

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We previously revealed how venue sound engineer Fraser Jack was having to take on other jobs to survive.

The 20-year-old, who lives in Glasgow's Southside, claimed: “I work there, and the pay is very poor. I’m having to juggle other jobs just to keep my head above water.

“The staff are great, but people have had enough - we just want to be treated properly.”

Venue manager Kay Logan, 28, called on the owners to address the serious points outlined within the grievance.

She adds: “We don’t want to damage the business, but we need the owner to recognise our union representation. We want to come to an agreement where we can all continue to do the jobs we enjoy, but with fair conditions.”

Bryan Simpson, who organises hospitality staff for Unite the Union, added: “Almost two months have passed since our members submitted a really serious collective grievance. In that time the owners have made only minor changes and some of the worst elements of the complaint remain unresolved.

“As of 5pm on April 14, the date we were promised the outcome, we don't have a formal response to the collective grievance submitted in February. No reasonable person can define this as responding in a timely manner.

"If the owner does not meet our members to negotiate pay, conditions and union recognition in the coming weeks we shall be forced to escalate this dispute industrially and legally."