Glasgow bar calls in liquidators days after workers go out on strike

A bar and music venue has closed and called in liquidators days after its workers walked out on strike.

Staff at the 13th Note in Glasgow staged a 48-hour walkout from noon on Friday over claims the owner failed to deal with pay and health and safety concerns.

Unite the union said it was the first bar workers’ strikes in more than 20 years and further action had been planned for the coming weekends.

Jacqueline Fennessy, owner of the 13th Note, claimed that Unite Hospitality had “sabotaged our business” and led to a decline in weekly revenue.

She said that the recent strike action “fully depleted all available funds in the business” as she announced that all team members would be losing their jobs on Wednesday.

In a statement she said: “It is with deep sadness that today we have been forced to close the doors of the 13th Note and appoint liquidators following operating the venue successfully for 21 years.

“Over more than two decades, we’ve played host to thousands of bands, performers, promoters and artists, while playing a significant role in the vibrant cultural scene of Glasgow.

“I’m devastated with the closure of a business I’ve cherished and loved along with the hundreds of loyal customers who frequented the Note, and I would like to thank everyone who has played a role in creating what was a vibrant Glasgow institution.

“It has been an honour to have been a part of your lives.

“The challenges of running an independent hospitality venue in today’s climate of inflationary pressures and post-lockdown challenges have been well documented.

“However, it has been the involvement of Unite Hospitality that has caused a drastic reduction in revenue that has forced our closure and the loss of all jobs at the 13th Note.

“To my team, I tried my very best to resolve all the issues we (and other hospitality businesses) face. Thank you all sincerely for all your work and efforts over the years.”

She said that her team were treated with “integrity, respect and an honest desire to make their working lives better” and insisted that allegations of serious health and safety issues “were simply not true”.

The bar is located in the Merchant City area of Glasgow.

Bryan Simpson of Unite said: “To close a workplace and sack more than 20 workers days after they take historic strike action is trade union intimidation pure and simple.

“To sack them with only a week’s wages and less than 30 days’ notice is also unlawful.

“Jacqueline Fennessy made a firm commitment to Unite and her workforce that she would postpone any redundancies until we’d at least had a chance to meet via ACAS to resolve the issue, a meeting that she called for.

“This employer didn’t even have the decency to tell some of her workers that they were being made redundant before she briefed the press with a smear campaign aimed at discrediting the workers who have made her profits over the years.

“The workers of the 13th Note made this venue and we will do everything we can to ensure that this continues.”