Teh One Who Knocks
09-26-2015, 12:22 PM
By Paul Byrne - The Daily Record
http://i.imgur.com/VP3dQnx.jpg
Staff working for fashion giant ASOS claim they are so over-worked, they don’t even have time to use the toilet.
The GMB trade union claims warehouse staff are so tightly regulated on their work rate that there is no time for some to make the ‘15 minute walk’ to and from the loo – and have to use the drinking fountain instead.
The union claims workers are expected to ‘pick’ 65 items an hour from a vast network of shelves at the distribution centre in Barnsley, South Yorks and might be expected to pick about 800 in the course of a shift, walking up to 15 miles in the process.
Deanne Ferguson, regional organiser for the GMB, said: “This leaves staff with no other choice but to use the water stations to urinate in.
“Some ASOS workers are suffering sickening indignity which must stop. ASOS must explain to its employees why they are treating them with such contempt and denying them common decency.
“The people of Barnsley care and will be disgusted to hear these reports. Workers at ASOS are genuinely scared as they have been told their jobs will be at risk if they resist, so the GMB has had to organise underground in ASOS.”
The online fashion retailer strongly denies the claims and says there are toilets within four minutes of every point of the warehouse which employs around 4,000 people.
It also says toilet visits are not restricted to break times and staff are allowed to go at any time.
But a worker, who would not be named, said there are areas within the grounds from where it would be a 15 minute round trip to use the lavatories.
He said staff previously had to be briefed that urinating in water fountains and in the aisles was ‘not allowed’.
He added: “I don’t know what their motivation for that was, I don’t know if it was because their ‘pick’ rate was too high. But there are health and safety concerns with people rushing around.”
The GMB has been holding demonstrations at the distribution centre to raise awareness about what it calls ‘poor working conditions’.
Russell Atkinson, a director at XPO Logistics which runs the site, said: “We believe the GMB union is using outdated information in an attempt to boost a recruitment drive and we refute their allegations.
“As an established member of the local community, we are proud to have received Barnsley Council Health and Well-being Award and are currently applying for the National Charter for Workplace Wellbeing.”
An ASOS spokesman said: “ASOS have instructed XPO to look into the matters the GMB has raised as a matter of urgency and should anything need to be addressed, it will be swiftly.”
http://i.imgur.com/VP3dQnx.jpg
Staff working for fashion giant ASOS claim they are so over-worked, they don’t even have time to use the toilet.
The GMB trade union claims warehouse staff are so tightly regulated on their work rate that there is no time for some to make the ‘15 minute walk’ to and from the loo – and have to use the drinking fountain instead.
The union claims workers are expected to ‘pick’ 65 items an hour from a vast network of shelves at the distribution centre in Barnsley, South Yorks and might be expected to pick about 800 in the course of a shift, walking up to 15 miles in the process.
Deanne Ferguson, regional organiser for the GMB, said: “This leaves staff with no other choice but to use the water stations to urinate in.
“Some ASOS workers are suffering sickening indignity which must stop. ASOS must explain to its employees why they are treating them with such contempt and denying them common decency.
“The people of Barnsley care and will be disgusted to hear these reports. Workers at ASOS are genuinely scared as they have been told their jobs will be at risk if they resist, so the GMB has had to organise underground in ASOS.”
The online fashion retailer strongly denies the claims and says there are toilets within four minutes of every point of the warehouse which employs around 4,000 people.
It also says toilet visits are not restricted to break times and staff are allowed to go at any time.
But a worker, who would not be named, said there are areas within the grounds from where it would be a 15 minute round trip to use the lavatories.
He said staff previously had to be briefed that urinating in water fountains and in the aisles was ‘not allowed’.
He added: “I don’t know what their motivation for that was, I don’t know if it was because their ‘pick’ rate was too high. But there are health and safety concerns with people rushing around.”
The GMB has been holding demonstrations at the distribution centre to raise awareness about what it calls ‘poor working conditions’.
Russell Atkinson, a director at XPO Logistics which runs the site, said: “We believe the GMB union is using outdated information in an attempt to boost a recruitment drive and we refute their allegations.
“As an established member of the local community, we are proud to have received Barnsley Council Health and Well-being Award and are currently applying for the National Charter for Workplace Wellbeing.”
An ASOS spokesman said: “ASOS have instructed XPO to look into the matters the GMB has raised as a matter of urgency and should anything need to be addressed, it will be swiftly.”