Share Action

: A representative from the pressure group Share Action claimed that workers are jeopardising their health for fear of being dismissed while another shareholder said the company reputation as an employer was atrocious and asked its chairman, Keith Hellawell, why he had not resigned, according to The Guardian. Unite union members protested outside Sports Direct headquarters in Derbyshire, where the meeting took place, by dressing up as Dickensian workers and holding a banner reading: It a ‘workhouse’ not a workplace. The company, which has gained notoriety for keeping 20,000 staff on zero-hours contracts and making Ashley a billionaire, robustly defended its treatment of workers at its annual shareholder meeting after strong criticism from activist investor groups. Investors also gave the company robust criticism over pay and the future of Hellawell. In response to the criticism, Hellawell said he was proud of the way this organisation operates . Claire Jenkins, a non-executive director, said comments about working conditions were misguided, adding: We are not operating Dickensian practices. More than half of the company independent shareholders who voted were against its pay policy, while almost a third refused to back the re-election of Hellawell as chairman. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.