Sports Direct shame

Last night (January 12) Unite Community members and Newcastle United fans pulled off a mighty stunt together in protest over Sports Directs’ shameful treatment of its workforce.

Fans unfurled a huge banner during the second half of the premiership match against Manchester United which simply read ‘#Sports Direct Shame’.

“Unite would like to thank Newcastle fans for their support and solidarity with Sports Direct workers,” said Luke Primarolo, Unite regional officer, who has been leading on the Sports Direct campaign.

The stunt is another embarrassing blow to club owner and billionaire CEO of Sports Direct, Mike Ashley, who is guilty of imposing Victorian style employment practices on his workforce.

These include workers being monitored every minute of the working day, ‘named and shamed’ over a tannoy system if their supervisor thinks they’re not working hard enough, and body searched after every shift at Sports Direct’s Shirebrook warehouse.

Questions over the retailer’s practices have pushed Sports Direct shares towards a three-year low and have wiped about £1bn from its value since the start of the year.

“If Mr Ashley wants to start restoring consumer and investor confidence, he needs to address his Victorian style working practises,” said Luke.

“In order to do this he simply needs to sit down and talk to Unite,” he added.

If you haven’t done so already please sign and share the petition to demand Sports Direct end low paid zero hours contracts now

Picture by Owen Humphreys, Press Association images