Working UK-style 2015

Some of the stories coming out of billionaire Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct warehouse are barely credible.

But the stories remain undocumented because many of the staff – most of them from Eastern Europe – are too frightened to make the allegations public, says Unite regional officer Luke Primarolo.

A substantial majority of the workforce at the complex in Shirebrook, are agency workers on zero hours contracts and paid the national minimum wage – or a few pence higher. Their employment status is hardly secure.

Managers have absolute power over the workforce – which is reinforced by a ‘six strikes and you’re out’ regime.

Even with a medical certificate, you are deducted one point if you are off sick; 1.25 points if you go home ill and two points if you make a mistake or fail to hit your target. The system leaves massive scope for bullying.

In December Latvian worker Guntars Zarins forced himself into work, but collapsed with a blood clot on his brain. The 52-year-old father of two remains partially paralysed, according to his family.

One East European woman, who was seven to eight months pregnant, went in despite feeling unwell and gave birth in a toilet. It is not known whether the 28-year-old notified Sports Direct of her pregnancy, or if any appropriate action was taken by the firm.

One worker on a full-time contract told uniteWORKS that the warehouse was like ‘the Wild West’. Targets are constantly changed and monitored and there have been a series of arbitrary sackings. Luke is currently investigating whether union reps in particular are being victimised.

Many of the employees have young families but are expected to work at least part of the weekend. They are prevented from taking breaks or parental leave during school holidays. “It’s perfectly legal,” says Luke. “but it means they have very little chance to be with their children.”

And then there is the deduction of up to £5 from their wages for ‘insurance’. Luke is looking into whether this could possibly represent the company’s liability insurance. “With about 5,000 agency workers on site, that adds up to a lot of money,” he says.

Everyone is searched when they clock out. If they are at the back of the queue it can take up to an hour to leave the building. It is possible they are paid less than the minimum wage for the hours they spend at work.

“But without individuals coming forward, it is difficult to challenge it,” says Luke.

Built on the site of the old colliery, the warehouse was meant to provide employment for the local community which never recovered from the devastating closure of the pit in 1993.

Apart from 300 permanent employees at the site, the 5,000 other workers are recruited and employed by two agencies, Best Connection and Transline.

Some of these ‘temporary’ workers have been at the warehouse for eight years. All of them are on zero hours contracts, although in reality many are full-time.

The union believes the agencies have targeted workers from abroad because they think they will be easier to control. “I am not saying Eastern Europeans are naturally more compliant,” says Luke, “but they are not in their own country, it’s not their language and they don’t know how the law works.

“And if they stand up for their rights and get the sack, where are they going to go? If Sports Direct is not employing them because they’ll be more compliant, why are they employing them?”

One permanent employee told uniteWORKS that some locals apply for jobs at the warehouse but the agencies falsely tell them there are no vacancies.

Deserve better
The people of Shirebrook are desperate for decent jobs and deserve better. “The town is a caricature of an ex-mining community that has been stitched up,” says Luke.

Scores of shops are closed and shuttered; the only thriving businesses are the ‘pound’ stores and pay day loan shops.

But the secretive Ashley won’t lose any sleep over the plight of his workers or the problems in the community. The Sunday Times Rich List puts his personal wealth at £3.75bn.

He refuses to engage with politicians over the goings-on at his warehouse. After a series of letters from Dennis Skinner, MP for Bolsover, Ashley said the only contact he would have with the veteran left-winger would be when he flies over his house in his private helicopter.

One frequent visitor to the warehouse said the staff are wary of him. “The temperature seems to drop whenever he appears.” Clearly the union has a battle on its hands.

Unite’s voluntary recognition agreement at the site only covers the 300 permanent staff so any industrial action would be ineffective. Union membership is frowned upon and less than two per cent are members.

“When people talk to us, it is quite clear they’re scared,” says Luke. “We are desperate to help them but they are just too frightened to speak up. This is what law makers have to understand – we need ways for people to blow the whistle where they feel that they will be protected.”

Luke believes it would help many of the workforce if they had the opportunity to learn English. The union is hoping to run courses at the Shirebrook miners’ welfare – one of the few remaining signs of the town’s industrial history.

“Most of the people I end up representing are under severe strain suffering from depression, anxiety and stress. It occurs with frightening regularity. There are lots of stresses in our society, but I’ve never seen it so prevalent.

“It’s not just down to the precarious nature of the job, it’s about the way they impose targets and how they are managed. One Polish man said it was almost like a joke with supervisors shouting, ‘work harder, work faster’. He told me it was like being in a Gulag.”

Luke acknowledges the real solution to the behaviour of organisations like Sport Direct lies in political change.

“We want to prevent Sports Direct becoming the benchmark for other employers. That’s not the kind of world I want to live in. There is no point in tackling zero hours’ contracts, if we don’t deal with agency workers’ employment issues. In the case of some employers it’s simply about shedding their responsibilities.

“There has to be a change in legislation and we need a government with the appetite to do something about it.”

UNITE HELPLINE
Do you work in Shirebrook for Sports Direct? Need confidential support and advice? Then phone the dedicated Unite helpline on 0333 323 1441.

 
*This feature first appeared in Unite Works