Union calls out retailer

The Usdaw retail union joined Extinction Rebellion activists and the Labour behind the Label workers’ rights group in a protest focussed on the Boohoo online fashion retailer.

The protest highlighted how the company’s Black Friday sales harm people and the planet by promoting excessive consumption of clothing. They say Boohoo’s business model “is killing the planet and driving bad working practices”.

Usdaw represents workers at Boohoo’s warehouse and call centre in Burnley along with head office staff in Manchester, but the company has repeatedly refused to recognise the union.

Ahead of the protest, and following revelations from an investigative reporter who went undercover in the company’s Burnley warehouse, the union wrote to Boohoo CEO John Lyttle to request an open discussion without preconditions.

The reporter from The Times found workers “are forced to walk the equivalent of a half-marathon per shift in a sweltering warehouse in which night-time temperatures can reach 320C. Staff label themselves ‘slaves’ and have complained of racism, sexual harassment, gruelling targets, inadequate training and ill-fitting safety equipment.

“The harsh conditions have led to workers collapsing in the aisles, with an ambulance called to the site once a month on average.”

Usdaw regional secretary Mike Aylward said Boohoo “has played fast and loose with their responses to persistent calls for the company to become an ethical trader”. And he called on the firm to end its anti-union stance.