A trade union has slammed a Glasgow bar after staff were told they were at risk of redundancy.
The announcement came after Unite the Union confirmed bar staff at the 13th Note will go on strike for three weeks in a dispute over working conditions and pay.
The strike action will start on Friday, July 14 , lasting every weekend until August 6. The union said they represent 95 per cent of the workers employed at the venue.
The dispute centres on the trade union’s campaign to secure better wages and improvements to health and safety. The industrial action at the King Street venue will be the first official strike voted for by bar workers in 20 years.
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Unite 13th Note owner Jacqueline Fennessy previously claimed that all staff are paid above the living wage with the bar having "no health and safety concerns".
An email from management at the bar has now informed workers they are at risk of redundancy due to "poor performance of the venue" and "excruciating utility bills".
The email reads: “I am writing to inform you of a business announcement, and that we are ‘at risk’ of potential redundancies.
“My reasons for these redundancies are solely based on the poor performance of the venue over several months. At the moment, the forecast does not look good, and the cash flow is very worrying.
“I feel it is important to give you as much warning as possible of the serious risk of redundancy. With increased costs across the board, especially excruciating utility bills, and with weeks of hot weather also affecting us.
“At the moment, I have not decided who exactly is at risk, and no selection process has been taken at this stage.
“I will know better at the start of next week when I sit down with my office manager and go through the accounts and monitor the situation over the next few weeks.
“I will have a one to one with all staff to discuss this in more detail. Once I look at your rotas, I will send an email confirming a day and a time for a follow up meeting.”
Unite the Union has slammed the email as "trade union victimisation" and called for Ms Fennessy to reverse the redundancy announcement.
Unite Hospitality lead organiser Bryan Simpson said: "These redundancies have nothing to do with 'poor performance' at the 13th Note. The venue made £1500 last night alone, on a Monday that is unheard of. This is about an unscrupulous employer getting rid of the unionised workers who have taken a stand against some of the egregious health and safety breaches I’ve ever seen.
"Announcing mass redundancy days after workers vote for strike action is trade union victimisation pure and simple. If Ms Fennessy wants to avoid a sustained legal battle and the inevitable backlash on her other two venues (The Bungo & Left Bank) she should rescind these redundancy notices immediately and work with us to resolve this dispute."
Ms Fennessy said: "The business is in a financially precarious position which may or may not result in redundancies. I am obliged legally and morally to give staff as much notice as possible of any risk of redundancy.
"It is categorically untrue to allege that any warning given of redundancy is in any way related to union membership or industrial action.
"I fully support staffs right to join a union and have never intimated anything to the contrary.
"Given the current financial climate, factors such as covid, high utility bills, soaring inflation etc, the business is not unique in facing a struggle to survive."
