Manchester Kimpton Clocktower staff to strike over union busting

Workers to walk out tomorrow after hotel chain IHG fails to recognise Unite

Workers at Manchester's Kimpton Clocktower hotel will walk out from tomorrow in a dispute around union busting activity.

Members of Unite, the UK's leading union, who work at the hotel and its restaurant The Refuge, will strike from 5pm tomorrow, as well as on 4, 5, 11, and 12 July.

It comes as despite weeks of negotiations with hotel owners InterContinental Hotels Group UK (IHG), has failed to give Unite official recognition. At the last minute, IHG cancelled meetings with Unite aimed at finding an agreement to the dispute. Workers now say they have no choice but to proceed with the first ever hospitality sector strike in the North West.

Unite Secretary Sharon Graham said: "The way IHG has behaved is nothing short of shameful. Instead of listening to workers' concerns, it has engaged in union busting behaviour at every turn.

"Unite will not idly stand by and allow our members to be treated in this way. They will have our full support during this dispute"

Recently, Kimpton Clocktower workers joined Unite and have been attempting to move towards formal union recognition to improve their conditions after raising several issues with management.

As well as refusing to offer formal union recognition, IHG UK also sacked two senior Unite representatives on trumped up charges. The union believes they were targeted for undertaking union activities, something which is illegal under UK employment law.

Unite rep Jasmine Kay said: "IHG has completely failed to engage positively with Unite. Staff and reps have been victimised, when all we wanted was improvements to our conditions. But we will not back down. We are determined to win this dispute, have Unite formally recognised, and improve conditions for all staff at Kimpton Clocktower."

Strikes will cause disruption to services at Kimpton Clocktower, including impacting regional events around the World Cup being held at The Refuge.

Unite regional officer Alison Treacher said: "Unite has spent weeks attempting to engage with IHG management in good faith, but it has refused to do the same to us, therefore staff have chosen to strike to make their voices heard

"Strikes will have a big impact on what services Kimpton Clocktower can offer, but the industrial action is completely the fault of IHG. It could easily resolve this by coming back to negotiations and choosing the formally recognise Unite"

IHG is one of the biggest hotel chains in the world and had a 13 per cent increase in operating profit to $1.27 billion last year.

Unite is currently running a petition asking IHG UK to stop targeting union activists, recognise the Kimpton workers rights to have their grievance heard collectively and support their union recognition campaign.