International Women's Day 2023

It's Ironic that the reason we are posting this late on International Women’s Day is because we have been tied up with a serious case of Harassment?

The case involved a young single mum who has been receiving the most disgusting treatment within the kitchen of a well-known 3 Rosette establishment.

The Hotel, like so many others had taken its eye off the ball and had ignored its legal duty of care to its employees in its search for accolades and stars.  The kitchen had become toxic with male chefs using sexist and violent behaviour towards this young woman.

So bad had it become she ended up on the sick with stress and she sought help from The National Chefs Union.
 

We acted immediately and warned the employers of the seriousness of the matter and their legal duty of care that we expected them to uphold.

To their credit the hotel "fessed up" and admitted the faults and immediately remedied the matter with an investigation which resulted in a dismissal and a supportive system of care for its staff. So now all is well, and she will return to work soon.

This young woman was incredibly brave, stood up to the harassment and was determined to seek the support she was entitled to from her employers, and she also had the courage and strength to seek support and compassion from Unichef which was able to bring the matter to a swift and amicable conclusion.

Even on International Women's Day the National Chefs Union is still fighting for equality for our female colleagues and still fighting against the bias in the industry.

So, on this day let us take pride in the work we have achieved but also acknowledge that we still have so much to do.