No unpaid work, red shed told

The union representing workers at The Warehouse says it should put its work experience schemes on hold while it restructures.

The retailer has announced a change to the workplace structure of its stores, removing many senior roles. About 140 jobs will be cut across the country.

Staff are working through the process to determine whether they will be redeployed.

The retailer runs two programmes through which unpaid workers are brought in for work experience.

Red Shirts in Schools caters to school students and Red Shirts in the Community is run in conjunction with the Ministry for Social Development.

The schools scheme brings up to 645 students into the stores each term. A spokeswoman for The Warehouse said some stores would only host four students at a time but, on average, stores would have seven students per term or intake.

Students are there from 9am to 3pm, one day a week. There are 92 stores around the country.

First Union was concerned workers in stores through the schemes were taking roles that might otherwise be paid.

‘‘It does displace people – it’s free labour,’’ union organiser Kate Davis said. She said it would be a sign of goodwill for the national retailer to put the schemes on hold while they went through the process of working out which staff members would be out of a job as a result of the restructure.

‘‘[We] consider that wherever there is labour there should be payment for that time, whether it be school children or beneficiaries. First Union considers that wherever there is forced free labour, it will work as a mechanism to undermine pay and conditions for all workers.

‘‘Unpaid work, regardless of how multinationals wrap it, is exploitation. This is harm to workers, and a harm to one is a harm to all,’’ Davis said.

A spokeswoman for the retailer said the schemes had no impact on its staffing decisions.

‘‘We know that many students struggle to get their first job due to lack of experience and life skills. When students spend time at The Warehouse as part of their Gateway Programme, they learn communication skills – active listening and two-way communication, personal presentation, product knowledge, team work and health and safety,’’ she said.

‘‘This breadth of knowledge and experience gives students increased confidence, self-belief and self-esteem, teaching them valuable skills outside of the classroom.’’