More than 300 employees of the large luxury British department store Harrods have decided to strike over the weekend before Christmas and during the Boxing Day public holiday, the day after Christmas, demanding better wages and better working conditions, their union announced today.

Workers “had no choice but to vote to strike once again given the refusal of Harrods management to recognize or enter into negotiations” with the union, said United Voices of the World (UVW), which represents the strikers.

Their mobilization will start on the evening of Friday 20 December and will last until Sunday 22 December, it will continue from 12.00 to 21.30 on Thursday 26 December, which is the official holiday of “Boxing Day”, the day after Christmas, the which marks the start of winter sales in Britain. The strike will therefore take place “on the most important days of the year for trade”, he clarified.

“More than 350 employees, including chefs, waiters, pastry chefs, receptionists (…) will take part in this concerted action against poverty wages and benefits and against the lack of respect,” the union told AFP today.

“As one of the biggest luxury department stores in the world, Harrods should lead by example. Instead, we are paid the minimum wage and denied basic benefits such as meal allowances and a Christmas bonus – things that should be the norm in a company raking in millions of pounds in profits every year,” says Alice Howick, a waitress at Harrods and member of the UVW, according to union announcement.

The strike also comes as Harrods is dealing with the fallout from allegations of rape and sexual assault by dozens of women, including many former employees, against their former owner, wealthy Egyptian businessman Mohamed Al Fayed, who has died in 2023 at the age of 94.

Between the BBC’s revelation of the scandal on September 19 and October 22, more than 250 people contacted the London department store to negotiate an amicable settlement.

Harrods was sold in 2010 to the sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority.