John Williams, Unite Wales Youth Committee and delegate to Unite Hospitality combine (personal capacity)
‘Angry at work? Then get organised and join a union!’
That’s what supporters of Youth Fight for Jobs have been calling for in our campaign on the streets of Cardiff.
Over the summer, hospitality and fast-food venues have been even busier, and the industry is already stretched to its limit due to labour shortages. And this means exploitation will continue to be rife. Recently, a toxic culture of sexual assault, harassment, racism and bullying has been alleged by more than 100 current and former McDonald’s workers, and this will just be the tip of the iceberg. But the best thing to do is to join a union, so workers can collectively challenge attitudes and make sure workplaces are safe from vile behaviour.
We’ve heard from many hospitality workers that the bosses think they can get away with anything. Deleting or changing the time of shifts with no consultation whatsoever, being told to go home early (but not being paid), holiday days being used for wages to save hours. There was even a case where somebody was forced to stay on longer, who missed her last train home, so had to fork out more than a day’s wages for a hotel for the night! It’s clear that rogue bosses think bullying and unfair behaviour is acceptable. But many workers are saying enough is enough.
In Cardiff for example, as previously reported in the Socialist, the Glee club has 80% union membership, and is still facing a union-busting campaign, (even though the courts have ruled in favour of the union). And in Glasgow, The 13th Note Café workers took action with the first bar strike in Scotland in over 20 years.
We’ve had a positive response from young and precarious workers in Cardiff, who work in a broad range of workplaces, and are just beginning to think that something needs to change. As part of a summer campaign, a public meeting was organised on 23 August. Speakers included bar workers, fast-food workers, recent graduates, students and leading trade unionists such as the secretary of the local trades council – bringing together all the local disputes and campaigns. There are outstanding issues that we need to tackle head on, and part of that is building the trade unions, and it needs more young people involved everywhere!
Youth Fight for Jobs says:
- End low pay. For trade union struggle for a £15-an-hour minimum wage. Abolish youth rates
- End job insecurity and underemployment. Scrap zero-hour contracts
- Establish democratically elected workplace committees to oversee tips, rotas, and workplace safety
- Provide free transport for workers coming to and from work
- Labour councils should refuse to implement Tory cuts, and instead pass no-cuts, ‘needs budgets’, which include the reinstatement and improvement of bus services so that workers can get home safely
- Make the 1% pay for the cost-of-living crisis – for democratic public ownership of major industries so they can be run in the interests of the 99%, not the bosses
