Zero Hours at Sports activities Direct, Cleaners at John Lewis Westfield – On Saturday third August 2013 I photographed one in every of many protests calling for an finish to zero hours contracts at Sports activities Direct branches then hurried to Stratford, the place a shock protest inside the shop demanding demanded that their cleaners get a residing wage and be handled in the identical method as different employees within the retailer.
Finish Zero Hours Contracts – Sports activities Direct, Oxford St
Over 85% of the 20,000 part-time employees at Sports activities Direct branches throughout the nation have been on Zero-hour contracts which disadvantaged them of sick pay, vacation pay and different employment rights. These contracts haven’t any assured weekly hours or earnings and have now grow to be broadly used – together with by Buckingham Palace and 13 out of 32 London Boroughs.
Primarily they deny the entire idea of a contract as usually understood, agreements with out substance which gravely drawback employees. They supply no assured weekly hours or earnings and are used to chop wages and keep away from vacation pay and pensions. Regardless of no assure of any earnings, they oblige the employees to be obtainable for work on the employer’s whim, making it unattainable for them to tackle different work.
Zero hours contracts are additionally unlawful if they don’t give employees the statutory minimal necessities for paid holidays, wages, sick pay, maternity pay and so forth, however these once more are troublesome to implement. There are numerous kinds of zero hours contracts however all are primarily designed to use employees.
The protest began with round 50 individuals making loads of noise on the pavement exterior the store and handing out leaflets to the numerous customers passing by. A lot of those that took the leaflets expressed shock that such contracts have been authorized – and a change in regulation in 2015 made it unlawful for contracts to disclaim staff the potential of working for an additional employer – although there isn’t a efficient mechanism to cease employers penalising employees who flip down shifts provided as a result of they’ve one other job at the moment.
After round 50 minutes the protesters surged into the small street-level space of the shop, aspiring to go down the escalator resulting in the principle retailer space. Safety employees blocked their path and advised them to cease, and so they did. One safety man tried to push a protester who complained he was being assualted however in any other case the scenario remained calm, with individuals blocking the way in which to the escalators in protest being watched by police and safety.
A police officer got here to speak with one of many main protesters, who made it clear they have been taking care to trigger no harm and would shortly depart after making their level. The officer retired and after a couple of minutes individuals left the shop to proceed the protest on the pavement for a couple of minutes earlier than calling an finish.
Extra at Finish Zero Hours Contracts – Sports activities Direct.
Cleaners in John Lewis Westfield – Westfield Centre, Stratford
I walked from Oxford Road to take the Central Line to Stratford the place I met a bunch of members of the IWGB exterior Stratford Station on their method to protest inside John Lewis. They’ve been conducting a long run marketing campaign to get the cleaners in John Lewis shops to be handled like others who work on the store ground.
John Lewis could be very happy with the truth that its employees are ‘companions’, with greater pay and higher advantages than different store employees, getting a share within the firm’s earnings – in 2013 this was a bonus equal to 9 weeks pay. However the employees who maintain the shop clear get low pay, awful situations of service and are typically handled like grime by the contract firm that employs them.
The cleaners need to be instantly employed by John Lewis and so get a share within the earnings and the higher situations. They have been then getting £6.72 per hour, significantly lower than the London Residing Wage of £8.55 an hour set by the GLA and backed by the London Mayor, and solely statutory sick pay, holidays and pensions from the contracting firm which employed them.
Their claims are supported by most of the ‘companions’ they work alongside, and by many John Lewis clients. However the ‘companions’ are afraid to talk out; one in every of them, Ralph Ashley who labored at Stratford did so and urged his fellow employees to affix the IWGB, and was focused and sacked after he gave an interview to the Guardian. In addition to their very own calls for, the protesters additionally demanded he get justice and be re-employed.
The IWGB members and supporters stored quiet as they moved via Stratford Westfield and made their method to to the third ground restaurant within the massive John Lewis retailer the place they acquired out banners, whistles, plastic trumpets and megaphones earlier than transferring out into the centre of the store for a loud protest.
Their noisy protest as they marched across the completely different ranges of the shop to make their method to the escalators handing out leaflets attracted an excessive amount of consideration and so they stopped often to clarify the protest and lots of stopped to observe and hear.
Ultimately they reached the primary ground ‘road’ degree, holding a barely longer protest there earlier than transferring exterior. Right here a small group of Westfield Safety tried to cease the protest and to stop me taking footage each with little success. Ultimately we left the enclosed road and went exterior and across the aspect of the shop.
Because the protesters have been packing up the police arrived and having been assured that this was a peaceable protest and that the protesters have been about to depart took no additional motion.
Far more at Cleaners in John Lewis Westfield.
Tags: cleansing contract, Circumstances of Service, exploit employees, exploitation, John Lewis, residing wage, London, London Residing Wage, no assured hours, noisy protest, outsourced employees, outsourcing, Oxford St, companions, peter Marshall, police, protest, Ralph Ashley, sacked, safety employees, sick pay, Sports activities Direct, Stratford, Westfield, Westfield Safety, zero hours, zero hours contracts
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