Formed by precarious workers in 2015 with the support of the Scottish Trades Union Congress, BetterThanZero takes action against exploitative employers in Scotland, to expose ill-treatment of workers, and to educate workers to organise their workplaces.

In 2016, we took on the G1 Group, a £45 million empire of restaurants, pubs and nightclubs in Scotland that failed to pay the minimum wage to thousands of its zero-hours workers. Workers took them to tribunal and won:

2017 saw a series of campaigns against unpaid shifts in Mooboo, unpaid volunteering in the Edinburgh entertainment giant Underbelly, and stolen time and tips in venues like Las Iguanas and All Bar One. In 2018 hotel workers from central Glasgow to the Isle of Skye challenged exploitative conditions.

The BetterThanZero brand was stamped on workplaces across Scotland, with victories on issues of surveillance, cancelled shifts, and late-night travel.

On the back of these efforts, new union branches emerged, including a hospitality branch of Unite the Union and a BECTU branch for Cineworld workers. Meanwhile the BetterThanZero network has grown to include workers in retail, security, courier, care, and other sectors infested with precarious conditions.

Now, in 2020, we are developing the tactics, tools, and teaching programmes to ensure that precarious workers across Scotland have the strength and the skills to take back control at work.