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On September 27 2007, the restaurant and bar workers’ branch of Unite organised a day of action to protest against employers who implement unfair and unjust rules regarding the distribution of customer tips to waiting staff.
One such company is Pizza Express. Unite members employed by the company had complained for some time that it was unfair for Pizza Express to deduct a so-called “administration fee” of 8% for processing customer tips paid on credit cards and on the service charge levied on the menu. In other words, 8p in every £1 intended for low-paid staff goes back to the multi-million pound company.
One of the union members who participated in the day of action was Nabil Guirguis, a Pizza Express manager with 17 years’ service. During the event, Nabil was interviewed by both the BBC and ITV. He commented during the interview that many staff were unhappy with the 8% deduction, and that surely the company could think of a better way of making profit than taking money from staff.
The company has stated they believe the system to be fair, and that it is not doing anything unlawful. Yet, Pizza Express accused Nabil of bringing the company into disrepute by drawing attention to this practice. This begs the question: if the company claims it is doing nothing disreputable, why is it disciplining a member for “bringing the company into disrepute”?
On 20 December 2007, just five days before Christmas, Nabil was sacked for “bringing the company into disrepute and breaking our rules on commenting to the media…” An appeal was lodged against this grossly unfair and unjustified decision. However, the company refused to overturn the decision.
We say that Nabil Gurguis was legally engaged in legitimate trade union activity in his own time when he spoke to the media on 27 September 2007, and that he has the right to freedom of speech. He should not be penalised for telling the truth!
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We are urging the company to reinstate him with immediate effect and to pay the loss of earnings he has suffered since 20 December 2007. We are seeking your support.
We are asking the public to boycott Pizza Express until Nabil’s case is brought to a satisfactory conclusion.
We are also asking that you send a letter of concern to:
Harvey Smyth
Chief Executive
(Gondola Group Ltd)
Pizza Express Ltd
5th Floor
Balcombe Street
London NW1 6NW
Fax: 0845 3899 488
Straight8
All well and good Mr Bear, but they give us a discount on production of our ID card.
