UNITE workers at the Village Hotel in Govan held their third day of strike action today, as their fight for improved conditions and equal pay goes on.

Storm-force winds did little to dampen the spirits of the ground-breaking trade unionists who are undertaking the first strike at a major hotel chain in Britain since the action at the Grosvenor in London some 46 years ago.

Unite Hospitality branch convener at the hotel Daniel Friel told the Star: “The public support has been genuinely overwhelming. 

“There’s been a clear consensus that these discriminatory pay differentials, which not only affect people across different sites, but are based on age, is entirely wrong.

“Equal pay for equal work is a human right, it’s a fundamental principle and an inalienable right under international law.”

Mr Friel said it is “remarkable that a company the size of Village Hotels, owned by the largest asset managing company on the planet, is seriously putting to our members that they cannot afford to pay us equally or the real living wage.”

He said the union’s members are not “buying into it at all,” adding: “Irrespective of the weather, our members will be out here to picket and make sure Village Hotels do the right thing.

“Here at the Village Hotel in Glasgow, taking the first strike action at a major hotel since 1979 really ought to send a message to other workers in a similar position.

“It’s taken us a year to get to this point, but if you stick it out and organise your workplace, you can force your employer to do the right thing.

“What we are hoping to show here is that collective action is not only possible in this precarious sector, but it works.”