The Unite trade union is poised to ballot its members working at Grosvenor Casinos on proposed strike action following a 2.5 percent pay offer which it says is below-inflation and part of a broader campaign to undermine Unite’s role.
A Christmas walkout is looming at Grosvenor Casinos after union Unite said it will ballot 140 members in a dispute over pay.
The industrial action could begin in November at some of London’s busiest venues, including the Rialto in Leicester Square, the Victoria in Edgware Road, and the Gloucester in Chelsea. The proposed strike would take place during the most profitable period of the year for the casino group.
Unite members rejected a 2.5 per cent pay offer from Grosvenor’s parent company, the Rank Group, describing it as a below-inflation rise. The union claims the offer is part of an attempt to undermine Unite’s role representing casino workers.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham asserted: “Grosvenor Casinos can more than afford a better pay offer to our members who do a very specialised role, but instead has chosen to prioritise its own greed.
These workers deserve more than this miserly below-inflationary rise being offered and they will receive Unite’s complete support throughout this dispute.”
The affected staff include dealers and poker room operators, who the union says work under intense pressure.
Unite argues that Rank Group, which operates more than 50 casinos nationwide, is in a strong financial position to offer a higher wage increase. The company recently reported a 9 per cent year-on-year rise in net gaming revenue, reaching £210.2 million for the quarter ending September 30.
What Unite fails to reference is the recent financial postings by Rank are a recovery from a torrid period of trading – it’s less growth, more comeback.
And more importantly, the hospitality sector remains extremely fragile: increased NIC rates from the 2024 budget are taking their toll – 120,000 jobs have already been lost to the industry in a year, and rising – and the government’s business rate proposals for larger premises, which impacts Rank significantly, will, according to the British Retail Consortium, take another 100,000 plus jobs out.
It would not be unrealistic to suggest that job security in the hospitality sector is in serious peril: wage rises are not on many business agendas at this moment,unfortunately, wage bill cuts are.
However, Unite regional officer Janet MacLeod is determined in her cause: “Grosvenor Casinos is betting that its workers will not have the strength to take industrial action, but it is taking a massive gamble. Any strike action will cause a major hit to its profits given the time of year it is planned to take place. It can avoid this. Instead of trying to derecognise and undermine Unite, it must come back to the table with a pay offer that is appropriate for our members.”
It’s a call to arms but one that could well backfire in the current economic climate.
