Protest outside Sports Direct HQ, September 2015, photo by Elaine Evans

Protest outside Sports Direct HQ, September 2015, photo by Elaine Evans   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

Protesting against Sports Direct’s ‘workhouse conditions’

On the same day as Sports Direct’s AGM, Unite the Union held a protest at Sports Direct’s headquarters in Shirebrook.

Protesters were dressed as Victorians, because low pay, body searches and bullying management are among the workhouse conditions reported by those who work at Sports Direct.
Over 90% of workers are on zero hours contracts with no guaranteed hours.

Protest outside Sports Direct HQ, September 2015, photo by E Evans

Protest outside Sports Direct HQ, September 2015, photo by E Evans   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

Mike Ashley, a major shareholder, has a ‘six-strikes’ sweatshop policy. ‘Strikes’ can be given for leaving work early through illness, taking too long to go to the toilet or being too sick to come to work.

Protest outside Sports Direct HQ, September 2015, photo by E Evans

Protest outside Sports Direct HQ, September 2015, photo by E Evans   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

Members of Unite also held up cards spelling ‘we support you’ in Polish, as many of the employees at Sports Direct are Eastern European. There were over 100 protesters outside Sports Direct (on Wednesday 9th September) and over 2,000 packs with Unite membership forms were handed out.

Elaine Evans

This version of this article was first posted on the Socialist Party website on 11 September 2015 and may vary slightly from the version subsequently printed in The Socialist.