More than 200 Boohoo warehouse workers at the firm’s warehouse in Crick, Northamptonshire, have lodged a collective grievance against the imposition of ‘unconscionable’ shift changes.
Unite, the union, said the workers are angry that the new shift patterns will leave the workforce having only one weekend off in every five. The new shift patterns will also leave workers with fragmented single days off, according to the union. Boohoo denies these claims.
The grievance was lodged after the company “refused to listen to workers’ concerns” during what was described by employees as a “sham” consultation process.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “The shift patterns proposed for Boohoo’s Crick warehouse are completely unacceptable in a modern society. People are not machines and deserve to able to spend time with their families, rest and have a life outside of work.
“This is a serious step backwards for a company whose reputation was left in tatters over the terrible treatment of workers just a few years ago. Unite defends our members’ jobs, pay and conditions to the hilt and Boohoo’s Crick workforce will be receiving their union’s complete support in their fight against these unconscionable shift demands.”
In what will come as a further blow to Boohoo’s reputation, when the firm’s Crick workers began to organise to oppose the shift changes, they were reportedly asked by management to not join a union.
In December 2020, Boohoo was forced to cut ties with 64 garment manufacturers in the UK after it emerged exploited workers producing clothes sold by the brand were being paid as little as £3.50 an hour.
The company has since tightened its code of conduct for suppliers, including for workers to able to belong to a union without being subject to discrimination.
Unite regional officer Sean Kettle said: “Unite demands that Boohoo apply the same freedom for association and collective bargaining rights to their directly employed workers at Crick that they say they expect for the employees of their third-party garment producers and suppliers.
“Boohoo must allow Unite access to the Crick site to organise and represent workers to negotiate ethical and fair shift patterns.”
