{"id":3913,"date":"2015-04-28T13:29:07","date_gmt":"2015-04-28T12:29:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=3913"},"modified":"2015-04-28T14:39:27","modified_gmt":"2015-04-28T13:39:27","slug":"fighting-culture-of-fear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=3913","title":{"rendered":"Fighting ‘culture of fear’"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Last night (April 27) hundreds of thousands of viewers watched Channel 4\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Dispatches<\/em> programme, The secrets of Sports Direct<\/em>, which exposed a zero hours contract workforce in constant fear of losing their jobs \u00e2\u20ac\u201c with staff named and shamed over a tannoy for not working fast enough.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In response, Unite announced today (April 28) that it was launching a confidential advice and support line \u00e2\u20ac\u201c as part of a campaign to confront abusive \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Victorian\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 work practices at Sports Direct and a culture of fear at the retailer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Shirebrook warehouse in Derbyshire.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s estimated that only 300 out of the 5,000 plus workers at the Shirebrook depot actually have contracts with Sports Direct, with the majority on zero hour contracts with two employment agencies \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Best Connection and Transline.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Victorian era throw back <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Commenting, Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner said: \u00e2\u20ac\u015bLike a throw-back to the Victorian era, workers on zero hours contracts at Sports Direct\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Shirebrook site are being shamefully exploited and living in daily fear of losing their job.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bMike Ashley and Sport Direct\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s shameful business model which is built on low pay and exploitative zero hours contracts, where workers are treated with contempt, has no place on the high streets of 21st<\/sup> century Britain.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bShoppers at Sports Direct need to remember this when they buy a cheap tee-shirt or pair of trainers.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

According to the programme, the draconian working conditions are underpinned by a \u00e2\u20ac\u0098six strikes and you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re out\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 disciplinary procedure. Workers can get strikes for long toilet breaks, excessive chatting and even having time off for sickness.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bToo often workers at the Shirebrook depot and across the retailer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s stores have been afraid to speak out,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 added Steve.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis culture of fear in Sports Direct needs to be confronted and the abusive workplace practices tackled.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s confidential Unite hotline allows workers to get advice and support on workplace abuses at Sports Direct.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe would urge workers at Sports Direct to not suffer in silence, to join Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s campaign for decent work, to get in touch via the confidential number and together we can put dignity back into the workplace,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Steve.<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

*Sports Direct Shirebrook worker needing help and advice? Call 0333 323 1441<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

To view Dispatches: The secrets of Sports Direct <\/em><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.channel4.com\/programmes\/dispatches\/on-demand\/57108-007<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last night (April 27) hundreds of thousands of viewers watched Channel 4\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Dispatches programme, The secrets of Sports Direct, which exposed a zero hours contract workforce in constant fear of losing their jobs \u00e2\u20ac\u201c with staff named and shamed over a tannoy for not working fast enough.   In response, Unite announced today (April 28) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3916,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[251],"wps_subtitle":"Unite helpline for Sports Direct workers ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3913"}],"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=3913"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3913\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3917,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3913\/revisions\/3917"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}