Qatari-owned Harrods’ profits at £51m – MD’s pay doubles to £2.3m, but workers’ wages ‘cut’

More than 50 Harrods uniformed security guards and CCTV operators will strike during November and December over a ‘pay cut dressed up as a rise’, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today (Friday).

The workers will strike over a seven per cent pay offer on 25, 26 and 27 November and 3, 4, 10, 11, 17, 18, 23, 24 and 26 December. The offer is a pay cut when the real rate of inflation, RPI, stands at 14.2 per cent and rising.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Harrods and its owners, the Qatar Investment Authority, can absolutely afford to pay these workers a rise that reflects soaring living costs. Harrods, like many Qatari state enterprises, is known the world over for luxury and extravagance, an impression maintained off the backs of workers. Our members at Harrods have Unite’s full support as they fight for a fair pay rise.” 

Harrods made a profit of £51 million in 2021/22 and doubled the pay of its managing director Michael Ward to £2.3 million, even though the company claimed nearly £6 million under the government’s Covid furlough scheme.

The strike action will be accompanied by a picket line outside of Harrods’ main entrance in Knightsbridge. 

Unite regional officer Balvinder Bir said: “I’m sure that Harrods’ high-end customers and store owners will not be pleased that security and CCTV operations during the Christmas period will be compromised. This is entirely the fault of Harrods, which is swimming in cash but offering a pay cut dressed up as a rise. The company needs to table an offer our members can accept.”

ENDS 

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Unite is Britain and Ireland’s largest union with members working across all sectors of the economy. The general secretary is Sharon Graham.