Lidl’s warehouse staff have raised with Usdaw the following key issues of concern about their working conditions:
- Poor health and safety
- Unreasonable volume of work and difficult to achieve performance targets
- Not receiving reasonable notice of rotas
- Unpaid hours after the shift has finished
- Discrimination and bullying from managers

Paddy Lillis – Usdaw’s General Secretary Elect says: “Usdaw regularly receives feedback from Lidl’s distribution staff, who are generally unhappy about their treatment at work and say morale can be pretty low. Usdaw’s campaign is based on their concerns and the real experiences of Lidl workers.

“The company now needs to sit down with Usdaw, the independent trade union representing their staff, so we can work to overcome these significant issues. Many Lidl workers are joining Usdaw and we urge others to sign up to the union, so that Usdaw can help get them a better deal and be a strong voice at work for when things are going wrong.

“Good industrial relations are important for business and that requires the staff having a voice, through an independent trade union, so that they get a proper say in their working lives. We urge the company to end their continued opposition to trade unions and meet with Usdaw to talk about recognising us as the trade union for Lidl staff.”

What the staff say: Below are direct quotes from Lidl distribution centre staff, highlighting their issues of concern:

“Always pressured to produce more than is capable in a tight time frame.”

"Don’t know if my job is secure, as they are changing everything all the time which make it’s harder for an employee to hit targets. Certain employees get disciplined, other employees doing the same thing get away with it. Targets are set for some people.”

“If your face doesn't fit it's a hard job"

“Quite often there is not enough staff in so you end up working on your own.”

“On going back injury, leaving me able to pick in 3 areas rather than the desirable 9.”

“Unreasonable workload to achieve productivity targets.”

“Volume of work is reasonable but deadlines set are infeasible.”

“Warehouse is always very cramped. Lots of accidents with pickers as some do not obey or understand the routes and rules of the warehouse. Some trucks travel too fast.”

“I'm in the health and safety committee and things are mentioned that are dangerous and even after a year it's still the same. People get injured due to pick rates being hard to achieve.”

“Lidl have a culture of health and safety is only important after something goes wrong, the training process is a joke at best.”

“My employer cares more about my performance than health and safety.”

Notes for editors:
 
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fifth biggest and the fastest growing trade union with over 430,000 members. Membership has increased by more than 28% over the decade. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemicals and other trades.
 
The ongoing Lidl recognition campaign continues with a focus on seven sites over the next three days. There will be an opportunity for photos and interviews with Usdaw activists as follows:
 

Date	Time	Location
Tue 6th	2 - 3pm	Lidl Distribution Centre, Exeter Gateway Business Park, Clyst Honiton, Exeter EX5 2DS
Tue 6th	2 - 3pm	Lidl Distribution Centre - Enfield, 8 Ardra Road, London N9 0BD
Tue 6th	1 - 2pm	Lidl Distribution Centre, Axeltree Way, Wednesbury WS10 0TB
Tue 6th	1 - 2pm	Lidl Distribution Centre, Moordale Road, Aycliffe Business Park, County Durham, DL5 6BA
Wed 7th	2 - 3pm	Lidl Distribution, Deans Industrial Estate, Livingston, EH54 8SE
Tue 6th	12noon - 1pm	Lidl Distribution, Fishers Way, Belvedere, DA17 6BS
Tue 6th	1 - 2pm	Lidl Distribution, Eastgate Road, Runcorn, WA7 1SE

 
For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter @UsdawUnion