"Unite Targets Anti-Union Premier Inn for Gagging Staff," 3 May 2017

...Unite has accused hospitality giant Whitbread, owners of Premier Inn and Costa Coffee, of a flagrant breach of its own company human rights policy, and article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) which includes the right to form and join a trade union of your choice. This was after union representatives were told by staff at sites across London that they had been instructed by management not to talk to the union or discuss trade unions at work.

Unite, which represents hundreds of Whitbread workers across the UK, is also pursuing a number of worrying allegations, including claims of unlawful deduction of wages over a failure to pay staff for breaks that they were not allowed to take and a suspected unfair tipping policy which denies workers their tips.  

Reports of the ban about workers discussing their rights has been confirmed by Unite members working for Whitbread- owned brands including Premier Inn, Costa Coffee and Beefeater, across the UK in a recent survey.

Unite, is calling on Whitbread, as the UK’s largest hospitality employer with 50,000 staff, to be a leader for change in the industry by working with the union to build a better and more sustainable business model that respects the rights of workers...