Copyright scotsman
Dozens of workers at VUE cinema’s St Enoch centre site are being balloted over industrial action in what could lead to the first strike action at a Scottish cinema chain. Unite, the trade union which represents the majority of the customer assistant and team leaders at the cinema, confirmed on Monday its members are being balloted over pay and working conditions. Specific demands include delivering the Real Living Wage, trade union recognition, and safe subsidised transport for workers at the end of shifts. The ballot opens on Tuesday and closes on November 25. VUE becomes the second Glasgow hospitality venue to hold an industrial action ballot in the past week with Village Hotels in Govan also holding a ballot over jobs, pay and conditions. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Unite’s members at VUE Entertainment in Glasgow are standing up against low pay. The cinema venue at St Enoch’s is failing to deliver fair pay and better working conditions, despite VUE Entertainment being a very wealthy company. “Our members have no option but to fight back, and they will have Unite’s full support in their demands for better jobs, pay and conditions.” Yana Petticrew, organiser for the Glasgow branch of Unite Hospitality, said: “Our VUE members’ decision to hold an industrial action ballot shows the appetite that hospitality workers have to change this sector for the better. “Alongside Village Hotel workers, this moment is historic for hospitality workers in Glasgow in fighting back against low pay and poor conditions. “Hospitality workers are generating huge profits for senior management and shareholders. The workers are showing incredible bravery in challenging these multi-million-pound companies for a wage worth living on and a voice in the workplace through their union.” Nick Troy, national chair of Unite Hospitality and the Glasgow branch, said: “The Scottish workplace has come to be characterised by poverty pay, insecurity, and oppressive conditions. Our members understand that the only power is collective power, and organisation through their union Unite. “Unite Hospitality is proud of our members in VUE for taking this brave and historic step to advance their demands for better jobs, pay and conditions.”
