17.09.2025 / Press releases /

Draughts bar workers announce month-long strike action this October over zero hour contracts 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

17th September, 2025

• Workers at Draughts board game bars in Stratford and Waterloo to strike every Saturday in October
  
• Workers are members of the trade union United Voices of the World (UVW) and demand security, safety, and respect at work
  
• Staff warn they will escalate further if management continue to rearrange renovation work around strike action
  
• Dispute highlights systemic exploitation in the hospitality sector, from zero-hours contracts to tech-driven cuts to pay and tips

Servers and bar staff at Draughts board game bars in Stratford and Waterloo have announced strike action on all four Saturdays in October in an escalation of their dispute over unsafe, insecure, and exploitative working conditions.

The strike follows earlier walkouts in August and comes after months of management refusing to engage with workers’ demands, which include:

• Ending zero-hours contracts and last-minute rota changes
• Fair rotas with proper notice and fixed-hour contracts
• Paid on-site training
• Licensed security staff for busy evening shifts
• Scrapping QR code ordering, which cuts tips and undermines staff skills
  

The striking staff – members of the trade union United Voices of the World (UVW) – say Draughts’ reliance on insecure contracts and QR codes has left them unable to plan their lives, financially insecure, and the lack of security staff leaves them feeling unsafe at work. 

Brune (she/they), a bar worker at Draughts and UVW member said:

“We are trying to let them know that we are not going to just roll over or quiet-quit, like a lot of people have suggested. We are not going to simply accept that because this is a hospitality job we don’t deserve to be able to plan our lives, to be able to rely on the money that we can project when we see the rota that we have, and simply that we can expect to be treated like normal human beings.” 

Petros Elia, General Secretary of UVW union said:

“These workers are showing incredible determination. Hospitality bosses think they can get away with zero-hours contracts, unsafe conditions, and cutting pay through apps — but Draughts staff are proving them wrong. If management keeps dodging negotiations our members will only escalate. This fight is bigger than one bar: it’s part of a growing movement of hospitality workers who refuse to accept poverty wages and precarity. UVW will back them all the way until they win.”

The strike is part of a growing wave of hospitality workers organising this year, with staff across bars, hotels, and restaurants refusing to accept poverty pay, precarity, or unsafe workplaces. Draughts workers’ sustained strike action shows that even in industries long thought “unorganisable,” workers are prepared to fight back and win.

Notes to Editors:

Strike Dates: Draughts workers will strike on Saturday 4th, 11th, 18th and 25th October 2025.

United Voices of the World (UVW) is a grassroots trade union founded in 2014. It represents low-paid, insecure, and predominantly migrant and racialised workers—including cleaners, concierges, couriers, carers, hospitality workers and others—in sectors often overlooked by traditional unions.

For further information, images, or to arrange interviews with striking workers contact the UVW press office.

Isabel/Oli: 07706 987443
E-mail: comms@uvwunion.org.uk

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