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Slave labour at Sports Direct
Unite members protest against Sports Direct's employment practices, 14.10.15, photo Elaine Evans (Click to enlarge)
Karen Seymour
The news that two brothers were jailed at Nottingham Crown Court for trafficking vulnerable people to work at Sports Direct in Shirebrook, Derbyshire, will have shocked and angered many.
The 18 victims were targeted precisely because they needed money badly, one needing to fund treatment for his desperately ill mother back in Poland.
The men were told of jobs in the UK which could pay £300 a week. In reality, they were given a fraction of this, for working long hours, with the traffickers pocketing the rest.
They were also promised decent accommodation. What they actually got was a chronically overcrowded, dirty flat in a shared house with others.
It's probably true that Mike Ashley, the boss of Sports Direct, didn't know about this trafficking. However, he's made billions from the exploitation of his workforce through practices such as the use of zero-hour contracts and paying less than the minimum wage.
The Socialist Party campaigns to end exploitative, Dickensian working conditions and practices. We demand an end to zero-hour contracts. All workers must have trade union rates of pay, full employment protection, and sickness and holiday rights from day one of employment.
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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.
Inevitably, during the crisis we have not been able to sell the Socialist and raise funds in the ways we normally would.
We therefore urgently appeal to all our viewers to donate to our Fighting Fund.
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