hospitality

Brighton SolFed recently entered into a public dispute with the Sidewinder to get them to pay compensation for the unfair dismissal of one of their workers. The worker was dismissed for calling in sick once after having worked at the pub for about nine months.

The pressure on the Sidewinder has been rising steadily over the passed few weeks as the frequency of our pickets increased. With result! Although the Sidewinder still refuses to pay compensation, they did pay up the unpaid holiday pay, and the management has let us know they have handed in their notice.

A worker organising with Brighton SolFed has recently won a dispute with their North Laine employer, Natulia on Sydney Street.

Natulia, whose contribution to the community is to - thankfully - be Brighton’s only "savoury waffle and bubble tea cafe"(!), opened its doors in Janaury, but is already gaining a reputation as a home for poor working conditions, bullying management, and a staff that turns over faster than its salmon waffles.

The worker organising with Brighton SolFed started their employment with a four hour unpaid trial shift, an exploitation that very much set the stage for what was to come. Once hired, the worker was never presented with a statement of particulars (let alone a contract) in a flagrant breach of employment law.

Brighton Proud Cabaret have paid a worker over £1,500 in underpaid back wages after being delivered a demand letter by Brighton SolFed.

The worker had been told that they would be paid at a rate of £8.50 per hour, but was only paid £7.58 per hour until the new minimum wage was introduced in April 2018, when the hourly rate was increased to £7.83. The contract issued to the worker by Proud Cabaret did not contain any information on rates of pay, which of course is a legal requirement.

The worker repeatedly raised this issue to management with no success. Tired of being fobbed off they contacted SolFed and after we delivered a demand letter the bosses decided to pay up!

Brighton Solidarity Federation Hospitality Workers have successfully concluded a campaign against a hotel in Brighton. Brighton SolFed had been working with a former employee for payment of unpaid holiday pay, as well as compensation for dangerous working conditions which have had a serious impact on this worker’s health.

A Brighton hospitality worker supported by SolFed has won a victory against the exploitative conditions prevalent in the local hospitality sector, as a restaurant paid £1,200 in response to pay demands made by the worker.

The public campaign in support of the worker ended after a single picket - and some back-and-forth emailing - with the worker receiving all the money she had asked for.

Brighton SolFed started a public campaign against Sushimania Brighton with a picket. The campaign is in support of a former worker who they failed to  pay properly, resulting in outstanding payment of £1,200.35 in unpaid wages and holiday pay. 

After the worker approached Brighton SolFed for support , we tried to resolve the issue amicably. However Sushimania claim that the worker only worked 32 hours per week, when in reality it was twice as much. We have now started a public campaign to make these facts knows.

Cafe Plenty issued legal threats just hours after Brighton Solfed tried to talk to them about £4,400 they owe a former worker. Having made clear they were unwilling to resolve the matter, the cafe's bogus threats triggered a campaign of protest highlighting the plight of the former worker organising with Solfed.

A Solfed member involved in the case explained what happened: “In late November, a couple of us went to hand them a letter about the £4K they owe the former worker. Our approach is always to try to resolve things amicably, by talking to them first and give them a chance to rectify their mistake. Since the owner wasn't there, we just left the letter with a helpful member of staff.

Brighton SolFed is making public a dispute with a cafe who are unwilling to settle outstanding pay of over £4K. The former worker, who stopped work at the establishment in early June has been asking to be paid ever since. As attempts to resolve the issue amicably were ignored or frustrated by Cafe Plenty, Brighton Solfed is now going public to warn potential staff and customers.

After getting nowhere, she approached Brighton Solidarity Federation for support. The business are not disputing they owe the money - in fact they finally paid part of the money owed two weeks ago. However £4,482 is still outstanding. After multiple attempts to resolve the dispute, including a face-to-face meeting, we are now stepping up our public campaign in support of the aggrieved worker.

Liverpool SolFed is organising a campaign against bad working conditions in the hospitality sector. The hospitality industry, which includes workplaces like pubs, restaurants, hotels, canteens, etc. has an important presence in the city and is well known for abuses and exploitation. Our aim is to get willing workers of the sector together to fight back against abuses and for better conditions.

Our dispute with Ephesus has come to an end with a victory; the worker has been paid all that was owed.

Solidarity from many people has been the key to attaining this result.

From the outset the worker, who is also involved in the Spanish Marea Granate movement, wanted to find a way to collectivise the dispute and try to improve the conditions for their fellow workmates even though they were leaving. As the notice period finished, the worker asked for all their holiday pay and if they were going to receive the money owed for minimum wage. All they were offered was a measly £150. Management hoped this would keep the worker quiet.