Zarah ChoudharyA protest will be held outside Derby Premier Inn on 1st March after Anne Marie Toal was fired, which Unite said resulted from her raising raising health and safety concerns.
Unite said Toal was sacked because she was a vocal trade union member, and the union is currently in the process of taking her case to an employment tribunal.
Toal said: “Myself and fellow colleagues had raised safety concerns, which we deemed very serious to multiple managers within the hotel.
“Upon doing this, disciplinary action was taken against me for disagreeing with the manager’s views of the concerns.
“They clearly had it in for me because I am a well-known and vocal campaigner for Unite in the company.”
Premier Inn is owned by Whitbread, which the union said has resisted its efforts to secure better jobs, pay and conditions for staff.
Sharon Graham, general secretary at Unite, said: “Premier Inn Derby’s treatment of Anne Marie is absolutely disgusting.
“Unite is backing her fight for justice both industrially and legally.
“Unfortunately, the rot comes from the top at Whitbread, which is virulently anti-union.
“It is a colossally profitable firm that doesn’t pay the real living wage and refuses to give company sick pay to its overworked and underpaid staff.
“Until these things change, Unite will be relentless in its campaign to force Whitbread to clean up its act.”
A Premier Inn spokesperson said: “Whilst we cannot comment on this individual case for data protection reasons, we would never dismiss an employee for raising safety concerns.
“On the contrary, we believe in being transparent and open, and our SpeakingOut policy offers a 24/7 safe space for employees to raise concerns both anonymously and in confidence.
“Our robust employee conduct procedures, including the right to appeal, are well-established.”
