Bar and restaurant staff at Cameron House are fighting back against "losing hundreds of pounds worth of tips and service charges".
Unite says minimum wage workers at the luxury Loch Lomond hotel, where a bottle of wine can cost up to £1,200, are "in revolt over what amounts to the misappropriation of their hard-earned tips”.
Around 60 workers are protesting about what they call an ‘opaque tips system’ for the distribution of tens of thousands of pounds worth of tips and service charges at the hotel resort, according to the union.
They say, in January, hotel management introduced a ten percent service charge, with bar and restaurant staff since finding that they are between £200 and £300 pounds a month worse off.
The union also claimed the resort retained 15 percent of the service charge to pay all staff a Christmas bonus.
Cameron House chiefs have responded insisting 100 percent of tips are paid to staff and said they will work closely with Unite and the teams to come to an agreement as soon as possible.
Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary, said: “Minimum wage workers are losing hundreds of pounds worth of tips at Cameron House, one of Scotland’s top-drawer luxury hotels.
“This is staggering abuse - a posh resort for the rich fleecing the tips of minimum-wage workers.
“The workers are fighting back and they have Unite’s rock solid support. The hotel faces significant reputational damage unless it acts to end this injustice.”
Unite is calling for a new ‘tips committee’, known as a TRONC, made up of bar and restaurant staff to oversee the democratic and proportionate distribution of service charges and card tips.
It is a special pay arrangement used to distribute tips, gratuities and service charges.
Commonly a TRONC is a central pool of funds in which some or all of the tips and service charges paid by customers are distributed to employees.
Unite hospitality organiser, Bryan Simpson, added: “A month after our members submitted this collective grievance, Cameron House senior management continue to refuse to honour the key commitments they made during negotiations.
“They need to ensure tips are distributed fairly, transparently and democratically.
“Our members have had enough and will be escalating their campaign for fair tips at Cameron House.”
Unite say the hotel’s “opaque practices” include Cameron House withholding 100 percent of all card tips until the end of the year.
But chiefs said credit card gratuities have normally been paid at the end of the year.
They said they have listened to staff and their feedback will play a part in the overall solution, with any delays in discussions due to staff holidays.
A spokesperson for Cameron House said: “Cameron House gives 100 percent of service charges to our staff and always has.
“We are committed to being open and transparent during this process and will work closely with Unite and the teams to come to an agreement as quickly as possible.
“Getting a satisfactory outcome for our team is a priority and we will continue to move forward to deliver this.”
