Vue workers at Glasgow St Enoch balloted over first-ever Scottish cinema chain strike

Workers at one of Scotland’s most profitable cinemas are being balloted over strike action amid a dispute over jobs, pay and conditions.

If successful, the ballot could lead to the first-ever strike action at a Scottish cinema chain.

Unite said cinema workers at Vue in Glasgow’s St Enoch’s are being balloted over efforts to secure the Real Living Wage, trade union recognition, and safe subsidised transport for workers at the end of shifts.

“Unite’s members at VUE Entertainment in Glasgow are standing up against low pay,” Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said.

“The cinema venue at St Enoch’s is failing to deliver fair pay and better working conditions, despite Vue Entertainment being a very wealthy company.

“Our members have no option but to fight back, and they will have Unite’s full support in their demands for better jobs, pay and conditions.”

Yana Petticrew, organiser for the Glasgow branch of Unite Hospitality, said Vue members’ decision to hold an industrial action ballot “shows the appetite that hospitality workers have to change this sector for the better”.

“Alongside Village Hotel workers, this moment is historic for hospitality workers in Glasgow in fighting back against low pay and poor conditions,” Ms Petticrew said.

“Hospitality workers are generating huge profits for senior management and shareholders. The workers are showing incredible bravery in challenging these multi-million-pound companies for a wage worth living on and a voice in the workplace through their union.”

Vue has become the second Glasgow hospitality venue to hold an industrial action ballot in the past week, with Village Hotels in Govan holding a ballot over jobs, pay and conditions.

The St Enoch’s ballot opens on Tuesday and will close on November 25.