Staff at Glasgow bar Broadcast say safety complaints led to dismissal

Broadcast is located on Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow

Staff at a Glasgow bar and music venue say they have been dismissed or had their hours cut after complaining about health and safety failures.

Eleven employees at Broadcast on Sauchiehall Street signed a grievance last week listing more than 50 issues.

Unite the union said that within a week, two new employees were dismissed - with one then being reinstated.

Broadcast said it was "shocked" by the allegations and had arranged to meet staff and the union to discuss them.

Unite say the complaint represents 75% of Broadcast's staff and lists "some of the worst breaches of health and safety we've ever dealt with".

Owner Paul Cardow also runs Sneaky Pete's in Edinburgh, as well as popular Glasgow festival Stag and Dagger and gig booker PCL Presents.

The ceiling in the staff office in Broadcast

The letter alleges several health and safety issues, including staff being exposed to black mould in the office, bar and toilets.

It claims the disabled toilets are without alarms.

It also alleges failures to pay staff holiday wages, sick pay and outstanding wages or issue staff contracts.

Broadcast's lead union member Yana Petticrew, 22, has worked as a supervisor at the bar for nine months.

She claims the staff members' lives have become "a living hell in work" since signing the letter.

A staff toilet which fell into disrepair

She claims signatories have been taken off the rota or had their hours cut at the late-night venue.

The bar supervisor says an attempt was made to cut her shift on Tuesday night, but she argued against the decision and kept the shift.

Yana said staff had decided to take action because "we felt it had been going on for too long.

"There's such a high turnover of staff because of issues that have been going on for years and it was clear that if we didn't do something about it, it would just continue with whoever was brought in.

"We had no stable senior management and hoped that by lodging the grievance we'd work with Paul (the owner) to fix the issues, but that hasn't been the case."

The women's public toilets in the Sauchiehall Street bar

Elisha Grant, 19, said she was fired a week after signing the complaint.

She said: "I signed the grievance three weeks after I started working at Broadcast to support the other staff members that had dealt with Paul and issues at Broadcast that had been going on for some time now.

"A week after the grievance was sent, I was informed by Yana that I had been removed from the rota for the upcoming week and was apparently fired.

"I had absolutely no notice or explanation for being fired from Paul or the managers."

Unite revealed the details of the grievance on Monday night and Elisha says that, by Tuesday afternoon, she had been reinstated.

A corner of the staff office

A spokesperson for Unite Hospitality said: "Any decent employer who cares about the welfare of his staff would be falling over themselves to meet with his workforce to seek resolution.

"Instead, a week after receiving a plethora of serious complaints from 75% of staff, the owner of broadcast Paul Cardow has ignored attempts to engage collectively, appointed lawyers and is even terminating signatories."

The union said that until Mr Cardow sits down with his workforce, it would be escalating its campaign at Broadcast.

A spokesperson for Broadcast said it was shocked by the allegations and had agreed to meet the union and its members to discuss them in detail.

"We have also hired an independent HR firm to investigate the issues raised and hope there will be a quick and positive resolution," it said.

"Our staff are at the very heart of our business and we work hard to ensure they feel valued.

"Everyone is paid the living wage of £9.50 per hour as a minimum and is paid on the last Friday of every month without fail."