Glasgow cinema workers to launch further month of strike action

Striking workers at a Glasgow cinema are to extend their walkout for another month.

Staff at the Vue in the city’s St Enoch shopping centre have been in dispute with their employer since early December. They are calling for union recognition and for their employer to pay for employees to get transport home after late night shifts.

The latest round of strike action will last for four weeks, running from 8 January up until 6 February. Workers trained at another Vue cinema are believed to have replaced striking staff during the industrial action.

The cinema chain previously said it was continuing to have regular meetings and discussion with staff.

The strike is understood to be the first industrial action taken by cinema workers in Scotland.

Workers have previously said they are seeking four things from the dispute – to be paid the real living wage, for trade unions to be recognised by Vue, for staff to have better contracted hours, and for paid transport home after late shifts, which can end as late as 02:00.

Lorna Glen, an industrial officer with the Unite union representing the workers, said: “Vue has forced the workers out of the cinema doors because they will not meet the fair and reasonable asks of its workers.

“Workers are on low and unequal pay levels, and they regularly have to take unreliable and potentially unsafe modes of transport home when working unsociable hours.

“These issues must be addressed by Vue or the blame for any escalation in strike action will lie entirely with management.”

Vue is one of the biggest cinema chains in the country, and its city centre venue is one of Glasgow’s largest after the closure of the Cineworld on Renfrew Street last year.

A spokesperson for the chain previously said: “Our teams are at the heart of our business and are highly valued. We continue to have regular meetings and open dialogue with site team members.”