STAFF at a Trafford Centre restaurant are planning to strike next week in a row over tips.

The TGI Fridays restaurant is one of just three branches in the country that will see staff walk out on Friday, May 25 in a dispute over the distribution of tips.

Front-of-house staff are protesting against management's plan to force them to share nearly half of all tips with kitchen staff.

Restaurant bosses say sharing tips with back-of-house staff is a fairer system but waiting staff claim this could deprive them of up to £250 a month each in tips, which they rely on to top-up their minimum wage.

A TGI Fridays spokesperson said: “Our team members are a part of our Fridays family, and we care about them.

"We believe all our team members should be – and are – treated and paid fairly.

"Despite this, a small number at Manchester Trafford Centre have voted to strike. We are listening to them and are collectively working to find a resolution.

"In the meantime, we will be doing all we can to ensure our guests receive the usual great dining experience and that the restaurant remains open as normal.”

But waiting staff are backed by Unite, Britain's largest trade union, who warned the restaurant's management of a "summer of disruption" if they continue to demand staff forcibly hand over their tips.

The union claims the move to forcibly divvy up the tips among front and back-house staff is a cynical ploy on behalf of restaurant bosses to top-up the low wages of kitchen staff and discourage them from seeking employment elsewhere. TGI Fridays in Trafford Centre has experienced a high turnover of kitchen staff in recent months. On average, a member of staff quits the restaurant chain every week.

Dave Turnball, unite regional officer, said: “Unite is warning TGI Fridays of a summer of disruption if management don’t do the decent thing and sit down with us to find a sensible solution to this dispute.

“Our members have sent a very clear message that they will not roll over and be bullied into having their tips taken, without any consultation and with just two days’ notice - a move that will leave waiting staff up to £250 a month worse off.

“This isn’t about minimum wage servers not wanting to share with their kitchen colleagues. It’s about a company whose shareholders have gotten so greedy that they no longer want to pay their hardworking staff anything above the bare minimum.”

Unite accused TGI Fridays last year of using unpaid trial shifts and of taking 40 per cent of waiters’ card tips and redistributing them to kitchen staff in lieu of a pay rise.

The restaurant chain also featured on a list of companies “named and shamed” by the Government last year for not paying the minimum wage.

Staff at the Trafford Centre restaurant will be joined by colleagues at Covent Garden and Piccadilly branches in London, as well as staff in Milton Keynes.

More workers could follow in their footsteps as Unite conclude talks with workers today at branches across the country.

It is understood that workers in Enfield, London and Gateshead, Newcastle are being balloted by union reps today to decide whether they will join the strike.

A TGI Fridays staff member confirmed that the Trafford Centre restaurant is expected to open as usual on Friday, May 25, even if the strike goes ahead as planned.