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.

Bookmark and Share

Background

By Ian Hodson It’s great news that a mainstream political party has recognised the importance of taking positive action to raise pay. Since 2008, politicians from all parties along with many in the media, have pushed the narrative that society will somehow improve by imposing austerity and blaming minority groups for the state of the country’s finances. Sadly, many have fallen for this deception and the ‘look over there’ politics that has rose to prominence since the Conservatives returned to power in 2010. [continue...]

Folkestone United – coming together to support migrants Bridget Chapman, Folkestone United, reports [continue...]

No Witch-Hunts In The GMB, Reinstate Keith Henderson (The Online Petition) Keith Henderson Essex LRC member and former Regional Organiser of the GMB Union was dismissed from the GMB last December, Keith has always believed that the real reason for his dismissal was because of his socialist beliefs and the manifestation of his beliefs. [continue...]

Please see our Labour Briefing Website here: LabourBriefing.org [continue...]

The LRC is supporting a broad alliance of campaign groups and trade unions against the proposals in the Welfare Reform Bill (currently before Parliament) and putting forward our alternative based on social justice and welfare for all. [continue...]

Across the country working people are losing their jobs and their homes. Meanwhile the bankers who plunged us into this crisis have been bailed out with billions of pounds of our money. It’s time to fight back. Their Crisis Not Ours! is the LRC’s campaign to bring together workers, pensioners, the unemployed, students, those facing repossession and all those suffering because of an economic crisis that has been imposed on us. The campaign is supporting the demands of the People’s Charter. [continue...]

Rail bosses are using the recession as an excuse to attack jobs and conditions and cut back on services and essential rail works, and hike rail fares - as LEAP research suggested they would. Thousands of jobs are being threatened or have been lost. At the same time rail fat cats are raking in big profits and bonuses on the back of the most expensive fares in Europe. Make no mistake: as the recession worsens so will the attack on rail workers and rail services. [continue...]

The campaign calling on the Government to abandon its plans for privatisation of Royal Mail. The Government has introduced the Postal Services Bill to part-privatise the Royal Mail. With our affiliate union CWU we are fighting to Keep the Post Public! [continue...]

The campaign to demand the Government funds improvements to all existing council housing, and to start building first class council homes to address housing need. For more information see Defend Council Housing website. [continue...]

Campaign news

LRC TV

Find us on Facebook Follow LRCinfo on Twitter

Corbyn for 2020:

JC4PM

Subscribe to Labour Briefing

Labour Briefing