I’m sick of my boss and zero hour contracts

On August 10th, Youth Fight for Jobs held a protest outside Sports Direct in Dundee. This protest was in response to the shocking recent news which revealed that 90% of Sports Direct employees are employed on zero-hour contracts. Recently the company has been boasting about its bonus scheme which is paid only to full time executives. Sports Direct – along with other high street stores – is owned by Mike Ashley, A billionaire tycoon.

These contracts are used to squeeze profit out of the workforce. Workers employed on zero hour contracts are in permanent insecurity, not knowing how many hours they will be working week to week, not knowing if they can afford to pay the bills. The bosses also use these contracts to oust those who fight for better working conditions.

This protest was part of the Are you Sick of your boss campaign launched by YFJ. The aim of the campaign is to organise young workers.

We were joined by other campaigners including activists from the Dundee Bin the Bedroom Tax campaign.

Minutes after assembling, we were confronted by Sports Direct managers who threatened to call the police if we did not move. We were perfectly within our rights to peacefully protest against the exploitation of their workforce, therefore we refused to leave. We didn’t give in to the aggression of management.

Many passers-by stopped to sign YFJ’s petition and took away our leaflets, some were interested in getting involved in a campaign. Many had heard about the protest earlier in the day on a local radio station. The overwhelming mood from the public was one of support.

After a period of time passed myself and other campaigners went into the store with placards to distribute leaflets. We were asked to leave by management and security but were not physically removed. We took the opportunity to leaflet and talk to staff employed on these contracts. One staff member told me; “I’m sick of my boss taking the mick, I don’t know how many hours I’ll be working one week to the next”. We then left the store to continue campaigning on the streets.

This will just be the start of a series of actions called by Youth Fight for Jobs, we will continue with a protest outside of a local McDonald’s this coming Friday. An estimated 1 million workers in Britain are employed on these contracts. The trade union movement must build a campaign to demand an end to the practice of zero-hour contracts while at the same time fighting for decent jobs for all, a living minimum wage and the end to anti trade union laws.