The National Union of Hymenoptera (NUH) has today announced that its wasp members will begin an indefinite work-to-rule from Monday 4th August, citing what it describes as unrealistic performance targets around jam reconnaissance and beer garden attendance during peak summer months.
The industrial action, which will affect an estimated 47 million workers across England, Scotland and Wales, comes after a consultation period revealed that 89 per cent of respondents felt their workload had become untenable. Under the new arrangement, wasps will attend only pre-scheduled outdoor dining events and will refuse all ad hoc callouts to Pimm’s, fallen ice lollies, and bins outside Greggs.
Jennifer Cartwright, regional organiser for the South East branch, said the current expectations were incompatible with basic health and safety provisions. “Our members are expected to investigate every al fresco situation within a three-mile radius while simultaneously maintaining nest infrastructure, managing larvae, and dealing with constant physical threats from rolled-up newspapers,” she said. “We’ve had wasps attending up to forty separate cream teas in a single afternoon. It’s simply not sustainable.”
The union is calling for a comprehensive review of summer workload distribution, mandatory rest periods between garden party deployments, and an end to what it terms the “always on” culture that has developed around British outdoor eating. It has also requested that employers, by which it appears to mean the British public, cease the practice of leaving sticky residue on unattended glasses as a form of entrapment.
The announcement has drawn a mixed response from hospitality venues. David Pembridge, general manager of The Crown and Anchor in Tunbridge Wells, said he sympathised with the wasps’ position but questioned the timing. “August is our busiest month for the beer garden,” he said. “If they’re going work-to-rule now, we’re looking at customers enjoying their Coronation chicken baguettes entirely unmolested, which frankly defeats the entire purpose of British summertime.”
Under the terms of the work-to-rule, wasps will continue to fulfil their contractual obligations around ecosystem maintenance and garden pest control but will limit jam-related activities to between 10am and 2pm on weekdays only. Weekend working will be suspended entirely unless triple-time rates are agreed. The union has indicated that yellowjackets and hornets remain in discussions about potential sympathy action, though bees have confirmed they will not be participating as they have “an entirely different business model”.
The NUH has said it remains open to negotiations but warns that without meaningful changes to working conditions, members may escalate to full strike action by the August bank holiday weekend, traditionally the sector’s most demanding period.