Harrods workers vote to strike in Christmas week over pay and perks

>Harrods workers from cleaners to shop floor and restaurant staff are set to strike in Christmas week, including during the upmarket department store’s key Boxing Day sales, in a dispute over pay and perks.

>The United Voice of the World (UVW) independent union said 95% of its members at the Knightsbridge store had voted in favour of the strikes on 21, 22 and 26 December.

>UVW said the workers had “no option” but to take action as Harrods’ management “refuses to recognise or engage with their union for negotiations”.

>The dispute caps a difficult year for Harrods after a string of allegations of abuse of workers by the former owner Mohamed Al Fayed prompted a police investigation.

>Meanwhile, it emerged in September that the retailer’s current Qatari owners paid themselves a second £180m dividend in a row last year despite a 35% fall in profits.

>Alice Howick, a member of the waiting staff at Harrods and a UVW member, said: “The time has come for us, the workers, to put ourselves and our wellbeing first and push for more than the bare minimum.

>“As one of the world’s leading luxury department stores, Harrods should be setting the standard for retail and hospitality workers,” she said. “Instead, we are earning the living wage and denied basic benefits such as a food allowance and Christmas bonus – something which should be commonplace in a company accumulating millions of pounds in profit year on year. Striking is a last resort for us and will only happen if Harrods continues to be unreasonable in responding to our demands.”

>Harrods said: “Those that have voted to strike, which amounts to 176 employees (approximately 10% of colleagues collectively in these specific affected areas), are a fractional minority of our workforce and we have contingency plans in place over the Christmas period to ensure our services are not disrupted by this planned action.”

The union says some workers receive a £50 voucher to spend in Harrods, which is not easy to use.

Could’ve at least given them a love to shop voucher, who wants to shop at work?

Good for them, would be great for a household name to win better pay and set an example for other workers

I think thats fine. Now that tax free shopping for tourists is no longer a thing, normal people dont shop there and everyone else mostly just browse.
Is it just rich kids looking to spend parents money and tourists that dont know any better that would like the Harrods bag as a flex thats left?