A union representing Harrods workers has prepared plans to strike just before Christmas over demands for better working conditions. Hundreds of retail , restaurant, kitchen and cleaning workers will be balloted this month ahead of potential industrial action in December . Their union United Voices of the World expects the strike to begin on December 19.
The staff at Harrods have demanded an annual festive bonus of £500, a guaranteed yearly pay rise above inflation, and increased staffing levels. There is reportedly discontent among employees as the store distributed £180m in bonuses to its owners and awarded a £2.1m salary to its managing director, while frontline staff have "faced stripped benefits, staff shortages and stagnant wages", according to UVW.
Harrods does not recognise the UVW union, adding it will not engage with the organisation over the issues raised. The UVW claims to represent 250 employees. Workers at the Knightsbridge department store have raised grievances over staff shortages, pay not increasing with inflation and a lack of transparency over the distribution of service charge in its restaurants.
Lourenco Hernandes, a cleaner at Harrods, said: "People feel disrespected and bullied, and some of us, the part-time cleaners, are forced to work nine days in a row, which means we hardly ever get a weekend off. This is really difficult because we have very early starts. It’s not easy to wake up at three or four in the morning every day for 9 days straight.
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