{"id":7731,"date":"2016-02-12T12:17:47","date_gmt":"2016-02-12T12:17:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=7731"},"modified":"2016-02-15T15:45:26","modified_gmt":"2016-02-15T15:45:26","slug":"sports-direct-unites-have-a-heart-plea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=7731","title":{"rendered":"Sports Direct: Unite’s \u00e2\u20ac\u0098have a heart\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 plea"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Unite campaigners will be handing in a giant Valentine\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s card and a 20,000 strong petition at Sport Direct\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s headquarters tomorrow (February 13), calling on the retailer to \u00e2\u20ac\u0098have a heart\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 by putting staff on permanent contracts and paying the real living wage.<\/p>\n

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The presentation and demonstration at Sport Direct\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s headquarters in Shirebrook, Derbyshire is part of a national campaign day against the retailer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Victorian\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 work practices, with protests and Valentines cards set to be handed in to over 35 Sports Direct stores from Truro to Newcastle. A full list can be found by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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The latest action follows a series of \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Sports Direct Shame\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 protests by Newcastle United and Rangers football fans over Sports Direct\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s work practices and treatment of agency workers at its main warehouse in Shirebrook.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u0098Gulag\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Employed to work for Sports Direct by Transline and The Best Connection, conditions for agency workers in the warehouse have been likened to a \u00e2\u20ac\u0098gulag\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 with workers working in fear of a \u00e2\u20ac\u0098six strikes and you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re out rule\u00e2\u20ac\u2122.<\/p>\n

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A Channel 4 Dispatches<\/em> investigation in 2015 exposed a workforce in constant fear of losing their jobs with staff in the Shirebrook warehouse named and shamed over a tannoy for not working fast enough. A separate BBC investigation found that ambulances were called to the Shirebrook site more than 80 times in two years.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bSports Direct has become a byword for Victorian work practices and shoddy corporate governance,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Unite assistant general secretary, Steve Turner.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bSo much so, over 20,000 people have signed a petition telling the retailer it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for them to clean its act up.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bFootball fans from Newcastle and Rangers have also made their feelings known, while investors and business groups, like the Institute of Directors, have voiced their continued and deep concern.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bSports Direct cannot match billionaire boss Mike Ashley\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s promise of becoming a model employer by merely paying lip service to reviewing employment practices and giving pitiful pay rises.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Deeper problems <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

But the problems run far deeper. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bSports Direct needs a fundamental rethink of its corporate governance and the way it treats its staff if it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s to repair its tarnished reputation and damaged share price,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 believes Turner.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bSports Direct needs to have a heart, put staff on permanent contracts and pay the real living wage to regain the trust of customers and investors alike.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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

Unite campaigners will be handing in a giant Valentine\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s card and a 20,000 strong petition at Sport Direct\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s headquarters tomorrow (February 13), calling on the retailer to \u00e2\u20ac\u0098have a heart\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 by putting staff on permanent contracts and paying the real living wage.   The presentation and demonstration at Sport Direct\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s headquarters in Shirebrook, Derbyshire is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7733,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[388],"wps_subtitle":"Thousands sign petition this Valentine\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Day","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7731"}],"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=7731"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7731\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7734,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7731\/revisions\/7734"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}