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10.12.2025 / News / West End Quays

Christmas strikes to hit West End Quay after luxury flats bosses enforce “Scrooge-style” pay freeze  

“None of us wants to spend Christmas on strike, but management has left us no choice. They froze our pay; they denied all the staff a pay rise for this year and walked back agreements we had reached, and even brought in agency staff during our strikes at a cost far higher than what we earn. We’ve even faced surveillance, yet all we’re asking for is the pay rise we had previously agreed to — one they had previously confirmed was affordable.”

Francesco Lombardo, concierge and UVW member

UVW cleaner and concierge members at the luxury flat complex in Paddington, central London, where properties sell for millions- say they have been left with no choice but to take further action this Christmas, yet again. The new 12-day walkout, from 29th December till 2nd January, will mark the fifth strike in an escalating industrial dispute that has defined the entire year at WEQ. Bosses reneged on an ACAS-brokered agreement and imposed a year-long pay freeze on low-paid, non-managerial staff only. For the workers, who are overwhelmingly migrant and Black and brown, the bosses seem to be behaving like “the ultimate Scrooges”, squeezing the lowest-paid while some are believed to pocket eye-watering six-figure salaries. 

Workers say they’ve been pushed into a corner by broken promises, backtracking on negotiated deals, and a total refusal to honour a pay rise that had already been agreed and costed. Management even chose to hire agency workers during a previous strike—at rates the workers believe dwarf their own wages.

And it’s not just about money. Managers authorised covert surveillance of staff using hidden smart-glasses worn by a colleague to target union members in what may amount to serious violations of human rights, including breaches of privacy and freedom of association. This triggered complaints to the Information Commissioner’s Office over unlawful surveillance and WEQ’s failure to register with the ICO, while residents are considering their own legal action after learning they may have been secretly filmed.    

With management refusing to budge, WEQ workers are now heading into the Christmas period on strike. It’s not where they wanted to be, but their message is clear: they will keep fighting into the new year if they have to.

As Francesco puts it, “We are united, we are organised, and we’ll keep going until they win what’s fair.”

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