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Sports Direct protest - Selborne Walk, Walthamstow, 6 Feb 2016 (Click to enlarge)
Exploitation Britain: Unionise and fight for a living wage
Danny Williams
Conditions in a warehouse used by online fashion retailer Asos have been described as "sickening". Workers testified to facing oppressive security, guarded toilets, searches, and a 'flexi-time' system which can demand they work extra hours without notice or force the use of their holiday allocation when hours are not available.
Efforts by the GMB to unionise against this treatment have failed to be recognised by the employer.
A similar regime of surveillance and dehumanisation has also been revealed at Sports Direct's Shirebrook warehouse, with thousands of temporary agency workers receiving below minimum wage.
Low wages, zero-hour contracts and shift patterns have left millions of workers and their families in a constant state of insecurity and instability.
It is these factors which sustain poverty and desperation and actually increase the potential of the merchandise theft, so feared by these companies.
The nature of these workplaces serves to confirm this. Sports Direct major shareholder, Mike Ashley, agreed to appear for questioning before MPs regarding these revelations only after stating that continued bad press could harm the Sports Direct brand, declaring he had "nothing to hide".
Ashley defended his company's practices before the parliamentary select committee saying: "I'm not Father Christmas". Too true! Scrooge is a more apt description.
The pugnacious billionaire went on to reveal his dictatorial anti-worker mentality: "I can do a better job for Sports Direct employees than Unite."
We disagree. The fight must continue to effectively unionise these workplaces, and protect workers from shameless exploitation by ending zero-hour contracts and bringing in a £10 minimum wage now without exception.
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The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.
The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.
The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.
- The Socialist Party's material is more vital than ever, so we can continue to report from workers who are fighting for better health and safety measures, against layoffs, for adequate staffing levels, etc.
- When the health crisis subsides, we must be ready for the stormy events ahead and the need to arm workers' movements with a socialist programme - one which puts the health and needs of humanity before the profits of a few.
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