In August 2021, Pret a Manger announced to staff that it would be introducing permanent wage cuts, ditching paid breaks and slashing service bonuses, after initially telling workers the cuts would be temporary in July 2021.

In response, a worker said they had been moved to organise a strike, in response to the pay cuts as well as work becoming harder, due to a subscription service introduced a year ago that enables members to get up to five coffees a day for a monthly £20 fee.

“With the coffee subscription we have more work. More effort. More stress. People never stop going for free coffee. But our conditions as employees are going back instead … I love my job but we want our conditions to improve or be at least as before.”...

After the outcry and calls for strike action, Pret a Manger rowed back on its plans to cut service bonuses. However, the decision to end paid breaks was not reversed, meaning workers will still see a pay cut of just over 6% a shift compared to pre-pandemic levels.

A worker involved in the strike said the new deal was a “good improvement” but they were still deciding whether to continue with strike action, as unpaid breaks had not been reversed.

Company comments included below.