‘You can’t afford not to be in a union’

In Part 2 of our series for Heart Unions week, in which we feature one trade union member each day, we speak to Kieran Duffy, a waiter who’s struggled against bad employers, and through the union, won.

According to recent figures, waiting tables is the worst paid job in the UK.

Before a campaign launched by Unite, employers were allowed to pay their waiters below the minimum wage, and then top up their wages to the legal minimum with tips.

Kieran Duffy, a father of five and Unite member, has been waiting tables for more than 20 years.

“I was once earning just £3 an hour,” he said.

It is common practice in America, but thanks to union pressure is now illegal here.

Unite’s campaign to get Pizza Express to drop the 8 per cent admin fee it was skimming off tips paid on a card lifted the lid on the murky world of tips and service charges.

Following a summer of intense media scrutiny and hard campaigning by Unite the cracks started to show and many high street chain restaurants vowed to scrap admin fees.

“Without the union you’re nothing,” said Duffy, who now negotiates on behalf of his colleagues.

“A Burmese waitress where I used to work once told me, ‘before you came here, we used to get £94 a week maximum, now we’re getting at least £200.’ I calculated that over the period of three and half years since that change, that amounts to £18,000. And that was all because of the union — because the union supported us and we challenged management together.”

“The main push of the fair tips campaign was to prevent employers from using tips to pay their workers the minimum wage,” said Dave Turnbull, Unite regional officer.

“It was perfectly lawful to do that at that time,” he added.

So Unite launched the fair tips campaign.

“We publicised the issue, we picketed a lot of restaurants and we got a lot of support from the media, particularly the Daily Mirror, and from the public. And it was successful – we managed to change the law,” said Dave.

It was thanks to Unite that things changed at Kieran’s work.

“Because the union supported me and my colleagues and we challenged management, together we succeeded,” said Kieran.

“If it wasn’t for my union I wouldn’t have had the power to stand up to my employer,” he added.

But being in a union is about more than just pay. The support unions offer goes much further.

“You can’t afford to be in the workplace without a union today. With employment tribunal fees and other continued attacks on workers’ rights – the only protection you have is through your union,” said Kieran.

“It’s like house insurance – you wouldn’t leave your house without insuring it,” he added.

Find out more about how you can get involved in Heart Unions week here.