Demonstrators have gathered in Cardiff calling for hospitality workers to unionise in a collective demand for better pay and working conditions. The protest was part of a show of solidarity with Starbucks workers in the USA going on strike on Thursday, November 17.
More than 250 Starbucks stores in the US have won union rights so far and have gone on strike across 100 stores. UK unions including Unite, the IUF, Workers United and BFAWU (the bakers' union) have coordinated protests across 50 towns and cities in the UK.
In Cardiff, demonstrators gathered near the Aneurin Bevan statue on Queen Street on Thursday afternoon, urging hospitality workers to unionise and stand up for better working conditions. Hospitality worker John Williams, a member of the Unite Wales youth committee, told WalesOnline: "[In the US], they're fighting for a $15/hr [minimum wage], better pay, better conditions, proper control of rota and to get bad bosses off their backs.
