Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Jamie’s Italian workers speak out to win justice following chain’s collapse

Former staff at Jamie’s Italian restaurant chain in Scotland are speaking out about being made redundant last month with only half an hour’s notice despite previous assurances from senior managers that all was well at the business.

A video issued today by Unite Scotland, which now represents around 60% of the former workforce in Scotland, captures the distress and confusion among the loyal former workforce who are now being supported by their union in legal efforts to gain redundancy payments, unpaid wages, and outstanding holiday pay, all of which are still owed to staff.

With the ex-Jamie’s workers left tens of thousands of pounds out of pocket between them, Unite is also campaigning to change the law to ensure that protective awards will be automatically granted to workers who have not received statutory notice under Section 86 of the Employment Rights Act so averting lengthy court proceedings in order to secure their compensation.

Praising the workers for speaking up, Bryan Simpson, Unite Scotland Hospitality Coordinator said: “These heartbreaking and angering stories from our members at Jamie’s Italian really highlight that there is a serious problem in the hospitality industry for workers. These workers devoted themselves to making this business a success,, absorbing all the cost cutting and pressures from above, but when it came down to it were treated appallingly by Jamie’s.

“In speaking up, Unite’s members are shining a light on an increasingly unstable sector where it is the workers on the restaurant floor pay the heaviest price for boardroom mistakes.

“Not only do we intend to reclaim what this group of workers is owed, but we will fight for the law to be changed so that no worker should have to face these injustices in the future. The existing law is entirely inadequate when it comes to protecting workers’ wages when a business goes to the wall. It is high time that the law was amended to deliver justice for working people.  For now the power to make this change rests at Westminster, another reason why we need employment law to be devolved.

“The Unite hospitality branches are only in their infancy, but we hope to set up a network for workers in the sector to empower them, and that this video can help others see the power of coming together in a union. Our message to workers is that long after your boss has walked away, Unite carries on fighting for you.”

Anyone who has been impacted by the closure of Jamie’s Italian Limited can contact Bryan Simpson at Bryan.Simpson@unitetheunion.org