{"id":3884,"date":"2015-04-28T08:00:50","date_gmt":"2015-04-28T07:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=3884"},"modified":"2015-04-28T13:29:57","modified_gmt":"2015-04-28T12:29:57","slug":"working-uk-style-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=3884","title":{"rendered":"Working UK-style 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Some of the stories coming out of billionaire Mike Ashley\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Sports Direct warehouse are barely credible.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But the stories remain undocumented because many of the staff \u00e2\u20ac\u201c most of them from Eastern Europe \u00e2\u20ac\u201c are too frightened to make the allegations public, says Unite regional officer Luke Primarolo.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A substantial majority of the workforce at the complex in Shirebrook, are agency workers on zero hours contracts and paid the national minimum wage \u00e2\u20ac\u201c or a few pence higher. Their employment status is hardly secure.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Managers have absolute power over the workforce \u00e2\u20ac\u201c which is reinforced by a \u00e2\u20ac\u0098six strikes and you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re out\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 regime.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

One worker on a full-time contract told uniteWORKS that the warehouse was like \u00e2\u20ac\u0098the Wild West\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. 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.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s perfectly legal,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 says Luke. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bbut it means they have very little chance to be with their children.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And then there is the deduction of up to \u00c2\u01415 from their wages for \u00e2\u20ac\u0098insurance\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. Luke is looking into whether this could possibly represent the company\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s liability insurance. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWith about 5,000 agency workers on site, that adds up to a lot of money,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he says.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut without individuals coming forward, it is difficult to challenge it,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 says Luke.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

 <\/p>\n

Some of these \u00e2\u20ac\u0098temporary\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 workers have been at the warehouse for eight years. All of them are on zero hours contracts, although in reality many are full-time.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The union believes the agencies have targeted workers from abroad because they think they will be easier to control. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bI am not saying Eastern Europeans are naturally more compliant,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 says Luke, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bbut they are not in their own country, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not their language and they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know how the law works.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAnd 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\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be more compliant, why are they employing them?\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

 <\/p>\n

Deserve better<\/strong><\/em>
\nThe people of Shirebrook are desperate for decent jobs and deserve better. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe town is a caricature of an ex-mining community that has been stitched up,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 says Luke.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Scores of shops are closed and shuttered; the only thriving businesses are the \u00e2\u20ac\u0098pound\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 stores and pay day loan shops.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But the secretive Ashley won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t 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 \u00c2\u01413.75bn.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

One frequent visitor to the warehouse said the staff are wary of him. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe temperature seems to drop whenever he appears.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Clearly the union has a battle on its hands.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 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.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhen people talk to us, it is quite clear they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re scared,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 says Luke. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe are desperate to help them but they are just too frightened to speak up. This is what law makers have to understand \u00e2\u20ac\u201c we need ways for people to blow the whistle where they feel that they will be protected.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 welfare \u00e2\u20ac\u201c one of the few remaining signs of the town\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s industrial history.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bMost 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\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve never seen it so prevalent.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not just down to the precarious nature of the job, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about the way they impose targets and how they are managed. One Polish man said it was almost like a joke with supervisors shouting, \u00e2\u20ac\u0098work harder, work faster\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. He told me it was like being in a Gulag.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Luke acknowledges the real solution to the behaviour of organisations like Sport Direct lies in political change.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe want to prevent Sports Direct becoming the benchmark for other employers. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not the kind of world I want to live in. There is no point in tackling zero hours\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 contracts, if we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t deal with agency workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 employment issues. In the case of some employers it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s simply about shedding their responsibilities.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere has to be a change in legislation and we need a government with the appetite to do something about it.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

UNITE HELPLINE<\/strong>
\nDo you work in Shirebrook for Sports Direct? Need confidential support and advice? Then phone the dedicated Unite helpline on 0333 323 1441.<\/p>\n

 
\n*This feature first appeared in Unite Works<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some of the stories coming out of billionaire Mike Ashley\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Sports Direct warehouse are barely credible.   But the stories remain undocumented because many of the staff \u00e2\u20ac\u201c most of them from Eastern Europe \u00e2\u20ac\u201c are too frightened to make the allegations public, says Unite regional officer Luke Primarolo.   A substantial majority of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3889,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[251],"wps_subtitle":" If you want to see what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s happened to work in the UK in 2015, look no further than Sports Direct","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3884"}],"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=3884"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3884\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3894,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3884\/revisions\/3894"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}