Campaigners Target Sports Direct In Zero Hour Contract Protest

A protest against the use of zero hour contracts was held outside Sports Direct on Plas Coch On Saturday.

Organised by Unite the Union, around ten campaigners targeted the sports store to protest against the companies high use of zero hour contracts. One slogan / sign used during the day was ‘0 hours = 0 Respect”.

Speaking about the protest, one organiser said: “From this particular demo, and the ones that have happened up and down England, Wales etc, I would hope Sports Direct and other such stores would do the right thing and stop using these contracts.

“I would also hope government take notice and made these Zero Hour Contracts illegal.”

Earlier this month is was revealed that around 90% of those employed for Sports Direct work on zero hour contracts. In total around 20,000 of the 23,000 who work for Sports Direct are signed to zero hour contracts. This means workers are not entitled to holiday pay, sick leave or job security.

Companies such as Boots, McDonalds and Burger King also employ a number of their staff on zero hour contracts.

Zero-hour contracts mean staff are employed with no fixed hours, meaning there is irregularity in the number of shifts an employee can work. This means that one week they may have a high level of working hours but then may find themselves with no work for weeks.

Similar events took place throughout the country, with Sports Direct stores in Leeds and Yorkshire also targeted over the weekend.

One of the organisers at Plas Coch told us: “We had a disgusting response from the staff, very rude, very confrontational they also seen fit to call the police but everything was lawful so they quickly left.

“We had some fantastic responses from the public, at least one person turned around and walked away after we explained it to her.”

Did you see / take part in the protest on Saturday? What are your thoughts on the use of Zero Hour contracts? You can discuss the issue further on our forums…