UNITE Hospitality workers at the Village Hotel in Govan returned to the picket line today as they fight for fair pay and union recognition.

Workers at the site began their strike – the first at a major hotel chain in Britain since 1979 – less than six months ago, winning a 10 per cent pay rise backdated to April 2024 and an end to zero-hours contracts.

But having secured 100 per cent support in a recent strike ballot, they have returned to the picket line to “finish the job.”

Despite those concessions, management at the hotel group, owned by trillion-dollar Blackstone Inc, has refused demands including overtime pay, a real living wage and safe transport home after late shifts.

Ahead of a “mega picket” to launch the strike action today, Unite Hospitality rep Stella Small told the Star: “It is vital that we challenge an employer who publicly discusses the endless wealth of the business while privately refusing to pay its workers a fair and equal wage.

“Hospitality workers deserve more than instability, poverty pay, and a devaluing of their labour on the grounds of age. 

“I hope that with this strike action we can show other young workers that they too have the power to change their conditions.”

Offering “unwavering support” for the strikers, Unite Hospitality Glasgow and national combine chair Nick Troy added: “By their own admission, money is ‘not an issue’ for Village Hotels and their bosses at Blackstone Inc.  

“Workers in Scotland and Britain should not be subject to poverty pay, inequality, or denied their right to trade union recognition to line the pockets of American asset management companies.”

Village Hotels was contacted for comment.