THE DARK SATANIC MILLS OF BRITAIN ..IN 2019
Unions slam warehouses over ambulance call-outs
WAREHOUSES run by two big retailers have been compared to “dark satanic mills” after a flood of ambulance call-outs for staff.
Unions claimed the number of incidents raised concerns about conditions for workers at sites operated by JD Sports and those on behalf of ASOS.
It follows a string of previous allegations about Amazon’s warehouses.
Matt Draper, of the Unite union, said: “The warehouses of some firms risk becoming the dark satanic mills of the 21st century.
“Where employers work with trade unions and treat people with respect there are fewer accidents and a better health and safety record.”
Figures show ambulances were called to JD’s warehouse in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, on 40 occasions last year, and 117 times in the past three years.
The allegations about JD Sports come just weeks after the company celebrated a record set of annual results, with sales soaring 49% to £4.7billion.
Ambulances were dispatched 45 times during 2018 to ASOS’s Grimethorpe warehouse near Barnsley, operated on its behalf by XPO Logisitics.
The vast plant employs 4,500 people and is vital to ASOS’s operations, helping the firm’s sales soar 26% to £2.4billion last year, with profits up 28% to £102million. Over the past three years, crews attended the South Yorkshire site on 148 occasions, according to data compiled by the Press Association.
And a Mirror probe in 2016 revealed staff at the ASOS plant were being treated by paramedics every nine days.
Call-outs included falls, back injuries, fits, psychiatric issues and suicide bids.
Neil Derrick, the GMB’s regional secretary, said: “They are making millions while their workers are literally being taken away in ambulances.”
A total of 21 ambulances were called to the Amazon warehouse in Warrington in 2018, six to the site in Doncaster, and one to the town’s Water Vole Way depot.
Veteran MP Frank Field said: “This sort of thing should have been left behind in the Victorian era.”
A spokesman for JD Sports said: “Given the scale of our operations, the number of incidents where an ambulance is called each year is very low.
“Not all call-outs are related to workplace incidents. We have a responsibility to everybody on site, and take no risks when it comes to their safety.”
ASOS and XPO Logistics said: “We are an employer that values the e safety of our employees above all else.” .”
Amazon said: “Using ambulance ulance numbers to suggest a workplace lace is not safe is wrong. It does s not consider hours worked or whether ether requests were work-related.”
This sort of thing should have been left behind with the Victorians FRANK FIELD VETERAN INDEPENDENT POLITICIAN