The fight for recognition at Glee Club, Cardiff 

In July 2023, following a long and hard-fought campaign, Unite the union secured union recognition at the world-famous Glee Club in Cardiff, Wales. This agreement represents the first of its kind within the Welsh hospitality sector and means that the 35 employees at the venue will be covered by a collective agreement. 

The TUC caught up with Michela Gilroy, an industrial officer with Unite, who took us through each stage of the campaign, the ups and the downs along the way and the lessons learnt in this historic victory.  

Making the first approach 

The popular Glee Club in Cardiff opened its doors in 2001 and has played host to some of the finest names in comedy for over 20 years, but all was not well behind the scenes. 

For some time, the workers — mainly bar staff, waiters and waitresses — had been facing issues in the workplace, which they knew were unfair. 

Workers were employed on zero-hour contracts, shifts were often cancelled anything up to an hour before the shift was due to start and there were reports of no hot water being available. They knew that something had to be done.  

The collective anger was building but the workers were nervous about how to proceed and where to turn for support. That is when one of the team reached out to a trade union.

Gilroy, an industrial officer with Unite, took the call and so began their first step towards improving their working lives, strengthening their bargaining position and winning union recognition.   

Initial approach 

Gilroy said: “I was approached by one of the workers, Joe. I was keen to listen to the issues and start to draw up a plan about how we could help.  

“We were aware that the workers had reached out to a few unions in their search for basic protections and understanding their rights at work. They knew they wanted to be in a union but were not entirely sure about what a union could do. This is something we are finding consistently in the hospitality industry. 

“We felt it was incredibly important to initiate that first meeting and start the conversation and build that relationship.” 

Obvious workplace leader 

Gilroy describes Joe, an employee at the Glee Club, as being key to the campaign. His strong voice in the workplace and evident position of influence almost immediately showed him to be an obvious workplace leader. 

She explained: “We have always found with hospitality workers that having a good leader is vital for any campaign towards organisation, recruitment and pushing for union recognition.  

“Workers in hospitality, a notoriously transient workforce, have never been in a union. They are not entirely sure what a union is, they don’t want to rock the boat in their place of work. They are in that job because they are students and paying their way to fund their education. Joe was without doubt key to the campaign and the path to winning recognition.”  

Joe then encouraged and organised for other colleagues at Glee Club to come and meet Gilroy over a series of meetings before they even thought about joining. 

She said: “The fact the staff had no access to hot water was illegal, let alone immoral. I took the time to explain to them how these incidences were wrong, they shouldn’t be happening and how Unite could help.  

“There were so many complaints, but it was really important to identify the main issues from the outset, to centre around what we could fix in the immediacy. We had to start with the issues that were most winnable.” 

Growing the membership 

By focusing the minds on how they could start to address these issues, the membership in the workplace began to grow. Of the 30 employees, they had managed to recruit 28 into the union.  

Gilroy said: “Higher density is always key to pushing towards eventual recognition and we made sure to use the issues as focal points and reasons to join the union. 

“We did this by targeting the new starters coming in. The nature of the job means that you often have a high turnover of staff and that can be difficult when trying to build a union within the workplace. 

“It wasn’t that long before we identified the lack of access to hot water as a central issue, we invited the HSE to come in and inspect. This resulted in the hot water being restored and we had our first win. Now, it was on to the next.” 

Building for recognition

Originally, a request for voluntary recognition with the employer was sought. This effort was swiftly rebuffed with the prevailing perception of unions being “troublemakers.”

So, faced with an employer who was unwilling to recognise the presence of a trade union, the next stage of the campaign was to apply for union recognition through the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC). 

The CAC is a British government body, whose task is to oversee the regulation of British labour law as it relates to trade union recognition and collective bargaining.

Gilroy said: “It was clear very early on that management were not interested in voluntary union recognition and they had closed off several opportunities to discuss this with us. 

“So, we took to social media to start building our campaign and raising the issues publicly. While opening the process to apply for recognition through the CAC. 

“At the point of applying to the CAC, we got close to the workers again to guide them through that process. As the union responsible, we had to make sure we had the numbers to achieve recognition first and foremost.” 

Union busting 

Gilroy said: “The whole process with the CAC took months and culminated in a full hearing in Birmingham with the employer. 

“We felt the employer wasn’t being entirely honest throughout that process in an attempt to undermine our claim. To counter, we took two of our workplace leaders with us to that meeting. 

“The company at this point were clearly uncomfortable with recognition. As a response to our endeavours, the company held meetings with the workers that can only be described as ‘union busting.’

“They excluded key employees who they believed to be activists from attending those meetings and they used them to tell staff that the union can’t do anything for them and that the subs were a waste of money. 

“In one incidence they actually offered to increase pay on the proviso that they don’t join the union.

“So, the route to winning recognition wasn’t easy. We had to keep momentum going and morale high.”

Bid for recognition rewarded 

On July 11 2023, they had been informed that they had won their bid for recognition and their hard work had been rewarded. 

Recognition by Unite means workers will be covered by a collective agreement, enabling Unite to negotiate with the employer on workers’ pay and other terms and conditions of employment. 

Speaking on victory, Gilroy said: “The significance of winning recognition here cannot be understated. It is one of the first agreements of its kind within the Welsh hospitality sector. 

“Terms and conditions in the hospitality sector are notoriously bad, so union recognition will give Unite the opportunity to change that for these workers. 

“We are now seeking urgent constructive talks with the Glee Club to agree the terms of the official recognition agreement.” 

Gilroy’s message  

Gilroy’s message to any rep trying to gain recognition is: “My message to anyone in a hospitality job who is interested in belonging to a union and having their rights at work protected is that they can make a difference and they can win at work. 

“I think you have got to make sure you focus on the right issues and have the right leaders in place. These might appear basic points, but they are so incredibly important. Without those people coming forward and leading from the front, any campaign falls away.

“So don’t be scared. It has been done now and we are showing it can be.”

For more information on HeartUnions week visit: www.tuc.org.uk/heartunions.