{"id":9190,"date":"2016-07-07T11:16:13","date_gmt":"2016-07-07T10:16:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=9190"},"modified":"2016-07-08T12:16:58","modified_gmt":"2016-07-08T11:16:58","slug":"sports-direct-profits-plummet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=9190","title":{"rendered":"Sports Direct profits plummet"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Unite warned that the \u00e2\u20ac\u0098shameful\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 work practices of employment agencies, Transline and The Best Connection, were causing irreparable harm to the reputation of Sports Direct and lasting damage to its profits today (July 7).<\/p>\n

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The warning over the employment agencies used by Sports Direct at its Shirebrook warehouse came as the controversial retailer released its latest annual results today showing a fall in profits of 8.4 per cent to \u00c2\u0141275.2 million.<\/p>\n

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The retailer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s financial results come at the end of a torrid financial year, which has seen its share price plunge by over 60 per cent and its majority shareholder, Mike Ashley, hauled in front of the House of Commons Business, Innovation and Skills select committee and grilled over poor employment practices at Sports Direct.<\/p>\n

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Unite, which has been leading the campaign against \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Victorian\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 work practices at Sports Direct urged the firm to cancel its contracts with Transline and The Best Connection at Shirebrook and move workers on to permanent contracts to avoid further reputational damage.<\/p>\n

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The union also called for the government to back the MP Louise Haigh\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s private members bill, to extend the remit of Gangmasters Licencing Authority (GLA) to stamp out abuses by employment agencies right across the economy.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt is clear that shameful work practices have not only battered Sports Direct\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s reputation, but are seriously harming its profits and share price,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Victorian\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 employment practices of Transline and The Best Connection at Sports Direct\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s warehouse would shame the pages of a Dickens novel and should have no place in 21st Century Britain.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bUnless Sports Direct severs ties with these employment agencies and moves to put workers on permanent contracts, then it risks further damage to its beleaguered reputation and profits,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe urge the government to take action too and protect the good name of British business by backing Louise Haigh MP\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s private members bill to extend the remit of the Gangmasters Licencing Authority to cover all sectors in the economy.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt is incomprehensible that an employment agency deemed unfit and barred from operating in one sector of the economy can be allowed to carry on using the same employment practices in another part of the economy unchecked.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u0098Lifting the lid\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 on \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Victorian\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 work practices during evidence to the House of Commons Business, Innovation and Skills select committee, Unite revealed that the employment agency\u00c2\u00a0 Transline had been stripped by the GLA of its licence after being deemed unfit to operate in the food and agriculture industry in 2014.<\/p>\n

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Unite also revealed that many agency workers employed by Sports Direct through Transline at Shirebrook are receiving their wages through pre-paid debit cards.<\/p>\n

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Costing \u00c2\u014110 to get, workers are charged \u00c2\u014110 a month in \u00e2\u20ac\u0098administrative fees\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 for the card, as well as 75 pence for cash withdrawals. During the hearing, it also emerged that The Best Connection was charging workers a fee of over \u00c2\u01412.45 for \u00e2\u20ac\u0098insurance services\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 straight from their weekly wages with no explanation.<\/p>\n

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

Unite warned that the \u00e2\u20ac\u0098shameful\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 work practices of employment agencies, Transline and The Best Connection, were causing irreparable harm to the reputation of Sports Direct and lasting damage to its profits today (July 7).   The warning over the employment agencies used by Sports Direct at its Shirebrook warehouse came as the controversial retailer released […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8938,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[534,388],"wps_subtitle":"'Shameful' work practices hit retailer's share price","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9190"}],"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=9190"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9190\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9191,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9190\/revisions\/9191"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}