Campaign news

UNITE National day of Action targetting Sports Direct.on Sept 9th

18th July 2015

UNITE National day of Action targetting Sports Direct.on Sept 9th

The National Committee is urging LRC Groups and members to take part in the UNITE National day of Action targetting Sports Direct. This will take place on Wednesday September 9th which is the day of Sports Directs Annual General Meeting. This is likely to be in Shirebrook where the company has a distribution centre with a 5,000 strong workforce. Sports Direct is being targetted because of its business practices. Only 300 or so of its workforce has a full time job and many of these are UNITE members. The rest are agency workers many Polish or other Eastern European workers ununionised and scared to speak out because of the level of corporate bullying. It is more like a work house or labour camp that a work place.UNITE officials who have a great deal of information say this is the worst they have met in terms of working conditions. The company has a six strikes and your out policy and you can get a strike for being off sick or talking too much. A Polish woman scared of taking time off though due to give birth, had her baby in the toilet when refused permission to leave work. Workers are constantly in fear of losing their jobs. Channel 4 has shown a documentary on SD but a more hard hitting one is due soon on BBC.

Actions will mainly be carried out by UNITE Community and UNITE Young workers who have published a set of demands 5 for Eight. At the Shirebrook Warehouse and Sports Direct and USC outlets the message is NO to Victorian Work Practices- Decent work for all.

What LRC groups and members can do - organise or join an action outside a Sports Direct or USC outlet. If you contact UNITE you may be able to get stickers and leaflets. Record your action and post it, tweet it, put it on Youtube. If you do it before Sept 9th hold off posting until then. Use the hashtag # Fight for 5 but there will be another for Sports Direct also

JOIN UNITE Community or even set up a local branch.

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