Long-running dispute over poverty pay and working conditions
 
Workers at the Village Hotel Glasgow are holding a rally tomorrow (Saturday 28 March) to coincide with strike action entering its fourth month in a long-running dispute over jobs, pay and conditions.
 
Village Hotel workers including staff in the Pub & Grill and the franchised Starbucks have been on all-out strike action since 28 November 2025 fighting for the real living wage for all workers, union recognition, and safe working conditions including taxi fares for late and unsociable hours worked.
 
The workers who are predominately young workers in the precarious hospitality industry will be holding a rally tomorrow with prominent guest speakers including STUC general secretary Roz Foyer - and invite members of the press to attend for interview opportunities: 
 
TIME: 4PM
WHERE: 7 Festival Gate, G51 1DB  
 
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "These young hospitality workers in Glasgow are fighting for fairness, decency and equality at Village Hotel. It is an incredibly wealthy business who is deliberately choosing to act like a rogue employer, shamefully treating its workforce with contempt and disregard. Unite will not accept this, and we remain fully behind the workers on strike action. ”
 
In August 2025, Village CEO, Gary Davis, stated that, "The great thing about being with Blackstone is money is not a problem”, yet the company continues to refuse the real living wage for workers of all ages.
 
In its most recent accounts, VUR Village Hotels Ltd posted a profit after tax of £182million. Village is a subsidiary of the American private equity firm Blackstone, which acquired the business in 2024 and reported revenues of $13.23bn last year.
Regional co-ordinating officer Alison Maclean said: “At its heart this long-running dispute is about a group of young people in a precarious industry fighting for equal pay, the real living wage and safe working conditions for all workers from a company worth hundreds of millions."
 
“The Village Hotel workers have our full support because their cause is just, and the rally to coincide with being on strike for four months is an opportunity to applaud their bravery and courage."
 
Unite has also lodged a legal complaint concerning illegal strike-breaking by Village Hotels. The union requested that the department of business and trade investigate and take enforcement action as appropriate over allegations employment agency – Mint People - provided temporary workers to directly replace striking workers. This is clearly against the law. 
Village Hotels is alleged to have sought to recruit agency workers through Mint People to undertake roles including pub and grill staff and night porters.
 
ENDS 
 
Notes to editor 
 
For media enquiries contact: Andrew Brady on 07810 157922 or andrew.brady@unitetheunion.org  
 
Unite Scotland is the country’s biggest and most diverse trade union with around 150,000 members.