A Green councillor who describes herself as a workers’ champion has been branded a hypocrite for owning thousands of shares in a controversial beer firm.
Holly Bruce, who was elected in Langside this year, has more than £62,000 worth of shares in BrewDog despite controversy over its employment practices.
Bruce, who also works for Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie, is a former hospitality worker, a member of Unite and a Scottish Parliament Green Group union member.
Despite boasting about defending workers’ rights and having a desire to disrupt capitalism prior to her election in May, it has now emerged Bruce owns 2500 lucrative shares in BrewDog.
Just last year dozens of workers signed an open letter accusing BrewDog of operating under a “culture of fear” and using “lies, hypocrisy and deceit” as tools.
Some claimed they had been left with mental health issues through working for the firm.
CEO James Watt claimed that while some complaints were justified, some were falsely made just to financially damage the firm.
Watt has also admitted hiring private investigators to learn about people he believed were taking part in an online smear campaign.
Unite Hospitality have been campaigning for better rights across the drinks sector and have been supporting staff concerned about practices at the Aberdeenshire-based brewer.
It is understood they are planning to quiz Bruce about her links to the firm. One Green Party source told the Sunday Mail they were “embarrassed” by the revelation over Bruce’s shares.
Glasgow Labour MSP Paul Sweeney said: “This does not seem to be the actions of a councillor allegedly committed to ‘f***ing up capitalism’.”
Bruce initially didn't respond when contacted for comment but in an email after the story was published, she said she was "gifted" the shares by a family member who'd bought them more then 10 years ago when Brewdog was starting out in her hometown.
She added: "Having these shares categorically doesn’t mean I agree with what has come out about the company, quite the opposite in fact. And it doesn’t mean my opinions and work on chipping away at capitalism structures are hypocritical. There was no intention or action made by me to buy these shares, it’s completely circumstantial."
Bruce also claimed she couldn't "sell these shares tomorrow and pocket £62k" because they are not easy to trade and "don't have a fixed value".
The Scottish Greens were also contacted and said they did not have the relevant information to comment.
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