Staff at The 13th Note in Glasgow vote for strike action

Staff at the 13th Note have voted for strike action

Staff at a Glasgow music venue have voted to strike in a dispute over pay and health and safety conditions.

The 13th Note was closed last month by environmental health due to a mouse infestation, but has since reopened.

Unite the union said staff would strike on weekends from 14 July unless "drastic improvements" were made.

Owner Jacqueline Fennessy said there were no health and safety issues and that staff were being paid above the living wage.

And on Monday Unite Hospitality tweeted that staff had received an email from Ms Fennessy to inform them that the business was "at risk of potential redundancies".

The King Street venue was issued with a remedial action notice as the bar and restaurant had inadequate pest control procedures and "mouse droppings were found throughout the food premises".

• Glasgow music venue closed due to mouse infestation

Glasgow City Council said the business could not open again until the mouse infestation and cleanliness issues were fixed.

Environmental health officers carried out a follow-up inspection and the venue was allowed to reopen days later.

The council said further regular follow-up visits will take place "to ensure standards are maintained."

It came more than three months after workers sent a collective grievance to the owners, which cited issues with staff contracts, health and safety, and a rodent infestation.

On Monday Ms Fennessy told BBC Scotland: "There is no mice infestation".

She added: "Any issues raised by [environmental health] were dealt with immediately and we were authorised to reopen within 72 hours.

"All staff have had a pay increase and are being paid above the living wage. An Acas conciliatory meeting has been arranged for 17 July.

"This was agreed last week by myself and Unite."

Workers previously protested inside the bar

Staff held a demonstration inside and outside the venue in May, demanding a response to their grievance.

Kitchen employees also walked out amid fears they could be seriously hurt by faulty equipment.

Unite, which said it represents 95% of staff at the venue, confirmed all members who took part in the ballot voted to strike.

If it goes ahead, the action will last every weekend until 6 August.

Staff want Ms Fennessy to "propose improvements to wages, health and safety as well as union recognition", the union said.

'We're still not being listened to'

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "Unite's members at the 13th Note bar in Glasgow are united in taking a stand, in what could be the first bar workers' strike across the UK in over 20 years.

"That says a lot about them. But it surely also says a lot about their employer."

Nick Troy, Unite's lead representative at the venue, added: "For 17 weeks, we have been trying to reason with the management at 13th Note.

"From wages to hygiene, to understaffing and our demands for union recognition, we're still not being properly listened to.

"Surely the strength of the strike vote shows it's time for that to change."