{"id":7259,"date":"2016-01-08T14:38:53","date_gmt":"2016-01-08T14:38:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=7259"},"modified":"2016-01-11T09:50:26","modified_gmt":"2016-01-11T09:50:26","slug":"sports-direct-proper-hours-and-wages-call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=7259","title":{"rendered":"Sports Direct: Proper hours and wages call"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Two Labour MPs \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Gloria De Piero for Ashfield, and Bolsover\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Dennis Skinner, today (Friday January 8) called on Sports Direct to end abusive work practices at its warehouse in Shirebrook, Derbyshire, by putting agency workers on permanent contracts and paying the \u00e2\u20ac\u0098real\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 living wage.<\/p>\n

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Today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s call by the MPs, who have constituents working at the depot, comes as Sports Direct issued a profits warning and follows a briefing held in Mansfield by Unite.<\/p>\n

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

Discussing continuing concerns over \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Dickensian\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 work practices at Sports Direct\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Shirebrook depot, the briefing heard that a review by billionaire Mike Ashley into the treatment of agency workers, lacked independence and risked being viewed as a sham without trade union involvement.<\/p>\n

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Mike Ashley\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s review follows an ongoing campaign by Unite which represents permanent workers at the retailer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Shirebrook depot and head office.<\/p>\n

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A recent Guardian investigation found that extra, unpaid time taken for \u00e2\u20ac\u015brigorous\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 compulsory searches meant workers were paid less than the minimum wage leading to calls for a HMRC investigation.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bSports Direct needs to heed the call from MPs to end abusive work practices by putting agency workers on permanent contracts and paying the proper living wage,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 commented Unite regional officer Luke Primarolo .<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u0098Fundamental problems\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bToday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s profit warning shows fundamental problems remain at Sports Direct from the use of zero hours contracts in its stores through to the treatment of agency workers at its main warehouse in Shirebrook,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bA continued failure by Mike Ashley to involve Unite and other independent bodies in his review of agency workers runs the risk of it being seen as a whitewash and adding to the growing unease of customers and the City.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf Mike Ashley is to restore investor confidence and realise his promise of becoming a model employer, then he needs to start working with Unite to restore dignity to the workplace.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Gloria De Piero MP is concerned. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bI’ll never forget my constituent Liga Shaw coming to see to tell me about her Dad, Guntars Zarins, who worked at the warehouse in Shirebrook,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she recalls.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bMr Zarins collapsed with a blood clot on his brain and is now in wheelchair because he was too scared to phone in sick in case he got a mark against his name.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWorking practices like this have no place in this day and age. Michael Ashley should hang is head and shame over what has gone on at his firm under his watch,” she added.<\/p>\n

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

Working conditions at the depot have been likened to a \u00e2\u20ac\u0098gulag\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 and are underpinned by a \u00e2\u20ac\u0098six strikes and you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re out\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 disciplinary procedure. Under the procedure, agency workers can get \u00e2\u20ac\u0098strikes\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 for taking too long in the toilet, talking too much or even having time off for sickness.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A Channel 4 Dispatches<\/em> investigation in 2015 exposed a workforce in constant fear of losing their jobs with staff in the Shirebrook warehouse \u00e2\u20ac\u0098named and shamed\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 over a tannoy for not working fast enough.<\/p>\n

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A separate BBC investigation found that ambulances were called to Shirebrook site more than 80 times in two years.<\/p>\n

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

Two Labour MPs \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Gloria De Piero for Ashfield, and Bolsover\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Dennis Skinner, today (Friday January 8) called on Sports Direct to end abusive work practices at its warehouse in Shirebrook, Derbyshire, by putting agency workers on permanent contracts and paying the \u00e2\u20ac\u0098real\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 living wage.   Today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s call by the MPs, who have constituents working […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5554,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[388],"wps_subtitle":"MPs call time on bad work practices","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7259"}],"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=7259"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7259\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7260,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7259\/revisions\/7260"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}