‘Victorian’ work practices

Unite members dressed as Dickensian workers will protest outside Sports Direct’s annual general meeting tomorrow (Wednesday September 9), demanding an end to the retailer’s ‘Victorian’ work practices.

The Unite organised protest, outside the retailer’s Shirebrook warehouse, is part of a national day of action taking place outside 25 Sports Direct shops across the UK.

Unite is calling for an end to the use of exploitative zero-hours contracts and for the company to pay a real living wage of ÂŁ7.85 per hour.

Shirebrook is Sports Direct’s headquarters, based in Derbyshire. Conditions there, which were earlier this year investigated by UNITELive, have been compared to a Victorian ‘workhouse’.

The company’s employment practices have also led to calls for Chairman Keith Hellawell to stand down at tomorrow’s AGM.

The Trade Union Share Owners (TUSO) group, a coalition of pension funds for trade unions including the TUC, Unite, Unison and ITF has written to the top 20 investors in the company, which employs thousands of workers on the controversial zero-hours contracts, urging them to vote out the Chairman Hellawell.

Unite representatives will be at the AGM tomorrow and will grill the board over the conditions which see agency workers on zero hours contracts working in fear of a ‘six strikes and you’re out’ rule.

“Low paid agency workers on zero hours contracts are being subjected to working conditions that are more akin to a Dickensian workhouse than a FTSE 100 company’s warehouse,” said Unite regional officer Luke Primarolo.

As well as the ‘six strikes and you’re out’ rule, workers also face being ‘named and shamed’ over a tannoy for not working hard enough and have no guarantee of regular work.

Unite, which represents the permanent workers at the site, estimates that there are as many as 3,000 workers eking out a living in such conditions through two employment agencies.

Best Connection and Transline are the agencies used by Sports Direct and agency workers can get ‘strikes’ for taking too long in the toilet, talking too much or even having time off for sickness.

“These Victoria era conditions combined with Sports Direct’s rampant use of zero hours contracts across its stores, only adds to the charge that Keith Hellawell and the board are running Sports Direct like a ‘backstreet outfit,’” said Primarolo.

Unite filed a pay claim last month demanding the company move thousands of zero-hours workers on to permanent contracts.

“It’s time for Sports Direct to restore dignity and security at work by paying the real living wage and putting staff on permanent contracts,” Primarolo went on to say.

“It’s time too for the Tory government to stop trying to make it harder for trade unions to stand up to abusive practices such as those at Sports Direct through its ideologically driven Trade Union Bill.”

Sign Unite’s online petition calling for an end to ‘draconian’ working practices and an end to Sports Direct’s reliance on zero-hours contracts by clicking here.