Town hall team praise firm for tackling dispute
COUNCILLORS said they were pleased that JD Sports was listening to its workers over a break dispute, after a visit to their Kingsway warehouse.
Council Leader Allen Brett, Councillor Shakil Ahmed and Councillor Daalat Ali took a tour of the Kingsway Distribution Park.
In October, the Observer reported on claims from a union that more than 600 employees had submitted a grievance about the sportswear firm’s reduction of the number of rest breaks for 12-hour night shift employees.
Rochdale council backed a motion calling on the firm to reverse its decision and the firm, which is the biggest private sector employer in the town, has since agreed to review its shift patterns.
Kingsway Councillor Shakil Ahmed said: “I’m pleased that they are listening to workers and showing an appropriate duty of care. JD is a highly successful, international, multi-billion pound business and I’m glad that they chose our award winning business park as their home.”
He added that the company had committed to begin a consultation process on all 38 existing full and part-time shift patterns currently available.
A spokesperson for JD said: “We were pleased to welcome Council Leader Allen Brett, Councillor Shakil Ahmed and Councillor Daalat Ali to our Kingsway facility and are pleased that they have recognised our positive approach to the health and safety of our colleagues, which is our utmost priority. We are proud of our facility at Kingsway and believe that it makes a significant and positive contribution to the local community.”