Hundreds of staff have expressed fears that the warehouse is a breeding ground for Coronavirus, due to poor hygiene and crowded working conditions. The company is refusing to close down, despite the fact that the Government would pay 80% of staff wages, leaving JD with a bill of only £5 million for a company that made £340 million profit last year.

Tony Clare – Usdaw Deputy Divisional Officer says: “This is disgraceful behaviour from one of the country’s biggest and most successful companies. They may be abiding by the letter of the Government guidelines, which are now being shown to be an absolute shambles, but this is not in the spirit of what the Government and more importantly the public expect. Selling trainers and sports fashion is not an essential service in the middle of our greatest ever national emergency. We are calling on JD to do the right thing and close the warehouse for everyone’s safety.”

Notes for editors:
 
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fifth biggest trade union with over 400,000 members. Membership has increased by more than one-third over the last couple of decades. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemicals and other trades.
 
For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter @UsdawUnion