In recent weeks, a no-deal or even Johnson-“divergence” deal Brexit leaving far fewer EU-based laws in place in the UK (or Britain, at least) has become less of a distant dystopia and more of a frighteningly impending reality. Workers’ rights are a central area set to be affected, in an intensification of the long-term pre-existing precarity across the workforce.
So what does this mean in practice? How will it affect those already forced to rely on precarious, part-time service sector work, from students with debts to pay off, to migrant workers, ethnic minorities and women? Such work can be deeply exploitative, and catering is no exception, as I learned from personal experience working in the extremely hierarchical and unflinchingly elitist world of the hospitality industry.
Sub-contracting and precarity
As an agency worker in hospitality, the shifts one works generally vary considerably by venue and by client. The prestigious ‘clients’ the agency mentioned are not wealthy individuals throwing parties, but companies – major catering and hospitality firms – who hire workers from various agencies to make up their numbers. One effect of this sub-contracting is that you often don’t know exactly what the event you’ll be working is: the agency’s email will simply tell you the company name and the venue. There’s a disconnect between agency workers and guests they are serving; you are entirely answerable to the larger company which has hired the workers.
