Ryan FowlerThe Trades Union Congress (TUC) and retail trade union Usdaw have written to the chief executives of Decathlon, Puma, Ba&sh, The Kooples, and Columbia Sportswear, urging them to end the use of so-called “freelance” retail staff. The unions argue that such practices undermine workers’ rights and create insecure working conditions.
This follows a similar letter sent to other retailers, including Urban Outfitters, Gymshark, and Uniqlo. In response to that campaign, Uniqlo, Gymshark, and Lush pledged to stop using such arrangements, which the unions believe treat workers unfairly.
In their letter, Usdaw general secretary Paddy Lillis and TUC assistant general secretary Kate Bell wrote: “We are representatives of 5.5 million working people, including hundreds of thousands of workers in the retail sector, to urge you to join other retailers and end the use of so-called freelance staff in your stores.
“Retail is a vital part of the UK economy, providing 2.9m jobs in the UK. Retail workers work extremely hard to make your shoppers’ experience as enjoyable as possible. In return, retail workers deserve decent pay, security and investment in their skills and training. It is therefore extremely worrying to discover that your retail chains are among those named as recruiting so-called ‘freelance’ workers operating on a self-employed basis.
“It is inconceivable that anyone entering your stores would consider that the person serving them was a self-employed worker akin to a visiting tradesman, rather than the permanent or temporary worker for your business. Employment rights are not a ‘nice to have’ that employers can opt in and out of at will. They ensure that workers are paid properly, that they have sufficient rest breaks to safeguard their health and that they are not discriminated against.”
The unions are calling on retailers to end the use of freelance contracts immediately, ensuring all workers are employed directly or through legitimate agency agreements, with the full rights and protections they deserve.
They added: “Trade unions and the workers we represent will fight to ensure that this practice is driven out of the retail sector altogether. Meanwhile we will press the Government to improve measures to crack down on bogus self-employment and modernise the legal test for ‘worker’ status to ensure that protections are extended to all workers to whom it was intended.”
The campaign highlights growing pressure on employers to provide fair and secure employment conditions for retail workers, a sector employing nearly 3 million people across the UK.
