Yahoo News Wetherspoons pub vandalised with paint urging boss to ‘pay your staff’
A Wetherspoons pub has been vandalised with graffiti urging its boss to “pay your staff” after he sacked thousands of workers due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The windows of The Postal Order pub in Crystal Palace, south-east London, were covered in red and white spray paint overnight.
It came after Wetherspoons owner Tim Martin told 40,000 workers in a video they should consider taking jobs at supermarkets including Tesco, after his pubs were forced to close over the weekend because of Covid-19 lockdown measures.
NHS worker Robert Good spotted the graffitied pub-front on Wednesday morning.
The 35-year-old said: “I wasn’t surprised that something like this would happen after the Wetherspoon boss told staff to go and work for Tesco.
“I don’t think he is gaining any fans for what he has done, and I imagine other people will follow suit after they see the vandalism.”
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Good, who is currently working from home, said there were reports of similar graffiti at a cinema nearby and he expected to see more in the future.
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The NHS communications worker added: “Do I agree with vandalising property? No. But, I understand their message.
“They are doing it to get noticed and hopefully the government will step in to pay them for their work.”
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The Wetherspoon pub chain has announced it will pay all its 43,000 staff this Friday for the hours worked last week, while the first payment under the government’s wages scheme will be made on April 3.
It has drawn up its own proposed rules as to how the government’s retention scheme would work and has submitted these to ministers for approval.
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Martin said: “As we have already confirmed, Wetherspoon will pay all our 43,000 staff this Friday for the hours worked last week.
“The first payment under the new scheme will be made on April 3, subject to Government approval, and weekly thereafter.”
The company said that under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), it will continue to pay a proportion of employees’ pay, for those who would otherwise have been laid off during the crisis.
