{"id":13189,"date":"2017-09-06T12:06:52","date_gmt":"2017-09-06T11:06:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=13189"},"modified":"2017-09-06T15:33:15","modified_gmt":"2017-09-06T14:33:15","slug":"sports-direct-workers-satisfied","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=13189","title":{"rendered":"Sports Direct: ‘Workers satisfied’ – apparently"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

UNITElive reports live from inside the AGM:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

10.54<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Unite will be tweeting from inside the #SportsDirect AGM where board members will face questions over the treatment of staff.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

10.59<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Owner Mike Ashley will not be attending the #SportsDirect AGM after accusing Unite of “getting us into this mess” at last year’s meeting.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"sports<\/p>\n

Unite volunteer English teacher for #SportsDirect staff, Tom Kirkhan,\u00c2\u00a0outside the AGM protest:<\/p>\n

“The firm’s treatment of workers hasn’t improved.”<\/p>\n

11.11<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Shareholder: Share value fallen\u00c2\u00a0because of issues around work conditions. Markets are not satisfied. Firm needs independent inquiry into matter.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

11.14<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Chairman Keith Hellawell says there will be no independent inquiry into work practises. “There has been enormous improvement. We’re not complacent.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

11.16<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Unite Community branch-chair Colin Hampton asks why #SportsDirect staff are still on zero-hour contracts with no guaranteed hours.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

11.19<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Hellawell: We call them casual workers not zero hours. It’s legal so we will do what we like. Much of workforce like them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

11.22<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Hampton: So it’s business as usual? Hellawell: Employees prefer them but we are constantly looking to make workforce happy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

11.25<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Unite branch-sec Val Graham asks why warehouse workers on temp contracts\u00c2\u00a0are not made permanent. Asks if execs will meet Unite to discuss?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

11.28<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Hellawell: “Yes.” But he disputes Unite’s evidence from workers that they are unhappy. He says their research finds staff are satisfied.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

11.29<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Unite member Andrew King asks about missing back-pay for agency workers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

11.32<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Chairman Hellawell: It’s legally difficult\u00c2\u00a0because agencies are third parties. Says if Sports Direct is so bad why do 29,000 people work there?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

11.36<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

AGM has now finished.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

UNITElive will get back to you soon with live reaction from campaigners gathered outside. Stay tuned<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UNITElive reports live from inside the AGM:   10.54 Unite will be tweeting from inside the #SportsDirect AGM where board members will face questions over the treatment of staff.   10.59 Owner Mike Ashley will not be attending the #SportsDirect AGM after accusing Unite of “getting us into this mess” at last year’s meeting.   […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13190,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[388,251],"wps_subtitle":"Chairman Hellawell grilled at AGM","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13189"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13189"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13189\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13197,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13189\/revisions\/13197"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}