Almost Famous: Unpaid Labour = Theft

On January 27th, over 110 employees at restaurant chain Almost Famous (Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool) were made redundant, tossed aside with zero consultation or notice. The owners were quick to inform the media but some staff only found out via social media.

Redundancy without notice is illegal. The owners of Almost Famous knew at least a fortnight beforehand about the pending insolvency, but kept staff in the dark, and monthly paid staff effectively worked for nothing in January. Rather than getting outstanding wages and holidays, staff were told to apply via an external company and the Government’s Redundancy Payment Services. The owners didn’t even bother to submit the details needed for staff to begin a claim.

They offered empty words about making the decision with “heavy hearts”, but “support” for their “extraordinary” staff amounted only to a few jobs in their new venture. Over 100 redundancies, yet they thought advertising less than a tenth of that was sufficient!

The question remains, what makes a worker “extraordinary” or worthy in the owners’ eyes? Their lack of care or support is repugnant, and empty words and gestures don’t hide the facts. They launched a new burger restaurant, Super Awesome Deluxe, in Manchester’s Northern Quarter in November, yet expect staff to believe they lack funds. They can fund secret raves with rappers at Super Awesome, so they’re capable of paying Famous staff their due. This supports the idea that Almost Famous sites were culled to pool resources into Super Awesome, a reprehensible action.

Solidarity Federation’s Hospitality Workers’ Union strongly condemns these heartless actions and will do all in our power to support staff treated so contemptuously by Almost Famous, applying pressure to the owners of Super Awesome Deluxe until these employees receive all payments owed. If you’ve been affected by the actions of the crooks behind Almost Famous, or want to get involved, please contact us:
SF Hospitality Workers’ Union – [email protected]
Manchester Solidarity Federation – mcrsolfed@gmailcom