Musicians including Paolo Nutini support striking 13th Note bar workers

Workers at The 13th Note music bar and venue are on strike after a collective grievance was submitted to the owners, citing issues with staff contracts, health and safety, and a rodent infestation. The staff walked out at noon on Friday with the strike ending Sunday, coinciding with the Glasgow Fair weekend. Staff have signalled their intention to strike every weekend until 6 August. The workers are calling for better wages, improvements to health and safety, and trade union recognition.

Unite the union represents 95 per cent of the workers employed at the venue with 100 per cent of members voting to support strike action.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Unite’s members at the 13^th Note bar in Glasgow are striking following the failure of the owners to make improvements on pay and on health and safety concerns. In what has become one of the first bar workers’ strikes in over 20 years, we support them and hope the owners now recognise the strength of the collective. These workers deserve credit for standing up for their rights in an industry that is riding roughshod over staff. Unite will back them 100 per cent in their demands for better pay and safer working conditions.”

A meeting with Acas has been set up for 19^th July when both Unite and the owners of 13^th Note will try to seek a path through the dispute.

Unite’s lead rep at 13^th Note, Nick Troy, added: “The owners of 13^th Note should be under no illusion that improvements to wages, health and safety, as well as union recognition, are the only way this rift will be sorted. This action is a reflection of our determination to ensure fair treatment. The continuation of the strike action beyond this weekend is not inevitable if the concerns and demands of the workforce are resolved. Unite remains hopeful that talks at ACAS could avert further action.”

Musicians support striking workers

A group of local musicians including Paolo Nutini, Stuart Braithwaite and The Twilight Sad have signed an open letter to “Music Lovers of Glasgow.”

The letter states:

“As Glasgow-based artists, we know how important the 13th Note is as a cultural institution, essential to our city’s music scene. Since the late ‘90s it has offered a platform for unsigned artists to be seen by their first audiences, from Idlewild to Franz Ferdinand to Belle & Sebastian and so many more.

“Over the past four months, we have been very concerned to read in the press, and hear from the workers themselves, that despite repeated collective calls, the owner of the 13th Note has not made the necessary investment and changes required to make the kitchen, bar & live-event venue the best that it can be.

“Unfortunately, the unionised workers of the 13th Note have been left with no other option but to take industrial action to improve conditions. This will be the first time that bar workers will take part in official strike action in over 20 years.

“On four consecutive weekends, from 12 noon on 14 July till 12 noon on 6 August, workers will be taking historic collective action to demand better. A better space for them to work in, with dignity and in safety. A better venue that honours its cultural legacy.

“We support the striking workers of the 13th Note in their campaign for a fairer and safer workplace. We urge the owner of The Note to see this as an opportunity to listen, rather than a confrontation with her workforce. An opportunity for the owner to cooperate with their workers, to resolve this dispute and to reassert The Note as one of the best venues in Glasgow for lovers of music, good food and workers’ rights.

“Unite Hospitality lead organiser Bryan Simpson said: “For the first time in a generation, bar workers in Glasgow have taken strike action to win a safer, fairer workplace with union recognition.

“They have shown to every hospitality worker across the country that they can and should take a collective stand against poverty pay, zero hour contracts and poor conditions.

“The 13th note is one of the most culturally significant live events venues in Scotland. This collective letter and the signatories we managed to get in a matter of days is testament to how important it is to our city.

“The workers who make the venue what it is are making a very simple and reasonable collective demand - a safe workplace, with wages that they can live on and union recognition. The who’s who of the Glasgow music scene support them fully.

“We would urge Jacqueline Fennessy to take heed of this letter, to respect the collective voice of this venue and give them what they deserve.”

Signed:

Stuart Braithwaite - Mogwai

James Graham - The Twilight Sad

Andy MacFarlane - The Twilight Sad

Johnny Docherty - The Twilight Sad

Brendan Smith - The Twilight Sad

Grant Hutchison - The Twilight Sad

Declan Welsh - Declan Welsh & the Decadent West

Paolo Nutini

Calum Baird

Michael Kasparis - Night School Records

Paul Thomson - Free Love, ex-Franz Ferdinand

Lewis Cook - Free Love

Suzi Cook - Free Love

RM Hubbert

Robert Dallas Gray - ex-Life Without Buildings

James Yorkston

Paul Michael Henry

Phil Eaglesham - P6 / Stretchheads / Desalvo

Fauves

Leon Green - The Lapelles, Joesef

Jamie Holmes - The Lapelles

Jack Anderson - The Lapelles

Brèagha Cuinn - Bratakus

Onnagh Cuinn - Bratakus