Charity shop volunteers who walked out of an upmarket store received so much support for their cause they formed a picket line twice in one day.
Response to the women's protest was so robust that they downed tools and held a demonstration outside the Marie Curie shop in the morning then gathered again in the afternoon.
The Herald told on Monday how a team of 14 volunteers at the shop in Glasgow's leafy Hyndland planned to withdraw their labour over concerns about their treatment by senior management.
READ MORE: Women volunteers walk out of Marie Curie charity shop
Marie Curie has strenuously denied the claims saying it takes the welfare of its staff and volunteers extremely seriously.
However, volunteers at the shop - which has been dubbed the 'Harrods' charity shop of Glasgow, given its location and quality of stock - said they were driven to protest over working conditions.
Yesterday they downed tools for the day and held a picket line outside the shop, which attracted enough location attention that they gathered for a second time.
Ann Hamilton is leading the charge at the Marie Curie shop.
Mrs Hamilton said: "I will be 70 in a couple of months and I thought my days of protest were behind me."
She added: "We had a great response.
"People were stopping to tell us their stories of working as volunteers or in charity shops and being treated badly so there was a lot of common feeling.
"We are keen to rebut Marie Curie's statement that the situation in the store has been resolved - it has not, and we are proof of that.
"We are very clear we are not respected and we are being undermined. We are volunteer staff and we are totally under appreciated."
Volunteers taking part in the protest include a 91-year-old and women who have been donating their labour to the charity for upwards of 20 years.
The self-styled band of rebels are frustrated at the treatment of the former manager of the store, who last year had asked to alter her hours but was told she would have to accept a demotion in order to reduce her hours.
The situation came to a head and the manager, who was a respected colleague, felt forced to resign.
The group said they felt the manager had been treated extremely poorly and pettily and a temporary area manager, drafted in to run the shop, was, they allege "demeaning, petty and negative".
READ MORE: Patients harmed by Sam Eljamel hold protest at Scottish Parliament
They have written to local councillors, MSPs and MPs to support them and said they received a good response.
The store is believed to raise tens of thousands of pounds a year for the end of life charity given its location in a leafy area of the city.
Volunteers will return to the shop for the remainder of this week's shifts because, Mrs Hamilton said, they do not want to damage the productivity of the store or inconvenience the paid staff.
But there are plans for further protests and the group of women say they intend to "keep the issue in the spotlight".
A Marie Curie spokesperson said the situation has been "thoroughly investigated" and the charity "puts people at the heart of everything we do."
The spokesperson added: "We are thankful for all our dedicated staff and volunteers.
"They are integral to helping us raise much-needed funds to enable us to deliver vital care and support to people at the end of life and their loved ones, both in the comfort of their homes and in our Glasgow Hospice.”
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