On Tuesday 23 April, far-right groups descended on the capital for a St George’s Day rally led by former EDL leader Tommy Robinson and Laurence Fox. The day itself quickly descended into chaos, with the Met noting that groups of flag-carrying men “forced their way through” police cordons an hour before the event was scheduled to take place. There were glass bottles thrown, numerous injuries and the intervention of a police horse. By the end of the game, ten people had been arrested in the clashes.
As chaos raged in central London, Myriam* threw herself into her job at BrewDog’s flagship bar in Waterloo, completely unaware that the mayhem was taking place just over a mile away. As she exited the tunnel, she saw a message on the internal staff chat. “Please tell me it’s not true that we’re hosting the EDL today,” said one of her colleagues. Asian woman Myriam was shocked. “This can’t be true,” she told herself as she went to work.
“As I was about to enter, three EDL members came out with large flags and gave me a sideways glance. And I thought, “God, it’s true. They are actually here,” he says Tribune. “I came in and asked the staff, ‘Are you OK with this?’ and they said, ‘No. This is crazy.’
Myriam went to the CEO’s office, upset and shaken by what she had witnessed. I asked him what the hell was going on, “Why are we organizing the EDL?” and said, “We don’t host them.” They’re meeting right now.” Visibly emotional, she was desperate with tears in her eyes. “I said, ‘I don’t understand that.’ This is bloody unbelievable.” I also asked if he would accept a BNP meeting here.”
Myriam texted the manager that evening to apologize. “I said, ‘I’m sorry if I got too emotional, but put yourself in the shoes of a brown woman in this situation.’ I explained that my family had experienced racist abuse from the EDL when I was growing up and that I was very triggered by the experience , that I am surrounded by such a large number of them.’
In documents seen TribuneBrewDog accused Myriam of “aggressive and rude behaviour”.
“It wasn’t like that at all,” claims Myriam. All I said was, “I can’t fucking believe this. That’s bloody unbelievable.” I wasn’t cursing my manager.”
“When I read the allegation, it completely broke my heart. I was scared, angry, heartbroken. I felt helpless. That’s my job. I have bills to pay. I had a breakdown.’
“They fired me regardless of the truth. I was coming into the manager’s office to explain that as a brown girl I was very uncomfortable with the presence of the EDL. They were allowed to sit there and drink before their assembly, which always ended in violence.‘
BrewDog, he says, were unaware of the concerns of people of color. “The person who ran my disciplinary hearing didn’t even know who the EDL were. He mentioned the fact that he had never been to London before so he didn’t really know.’
“It didn’t make sense. My managers are constantly cursing. They are good together. I didn’t berate my manager. It was such a highly stressful situation. I got fired for it. It was heartbreaking because I had worked there for so many years. I put so much time and energy into it, always trying to make the place better.”
Myriam says her colleagues were very uncomfortable with the situation. “One of my colleagues told me that they cried because of the situation. One said it made them no longer feel like being part of the company. A third spoke of how she was told that because she was melancholic she could tolerate spicy food.’
It’s not the first time BrewDog staff have raised concerns. In late March, an open letter from allegedly disgruntled staff at BrewDog Waterloo claimed they had a “terrible” time due to “bad” management practices. The allegations included claims of “bullying and gaslighting”, with workers saying they “had to put up with racism, sexism and ableism. It followed an earlier open letter published in June 2021, signed by 61 former employees, which made similar claims about workplace practices.
“I want nothing to do with BrewDog anymore,” says Myriam. “The work there is so exhausting. It took so much energy out of me that I didn’t even realize how much happier I would be anywhere other than BrewDog.”
“BrewDog has a history of treating its employees with contempt, but to fire a worker of color for objecting to members of a fascist organization meeting in their workplace is a new low for this company,” says Bryan Simpson, lead organizer for Unite Hospitality.
“This example may be particularly shocking, but it is part of a plethora of serious complaints we have received about the treatment of workers at Waterloo BrewDog, from a toxic culture of bullying by management and unfair dismissal to shocking health and safety breaches. We will do everything we can legally and industrially to ensure that our members of this and every BrewDog get the justice they deserve.”