Ian Hodson, National President of the Bakers Union, and Audrey White, former retail manager and now with Merseyside Pensioners, join me to discuss the controversy around Sainsbury’s unpaid work experience scheme for young people.
They question why a major retailer that has cut jobs should benefit from thousands of unpaid placements and ask why more trade unions are not speaking out. The discussion also looks at political links, the return of workfare style schemes, insecure employment and what unions should be doing to defend young workers.
Is this really about opportunity or is it free labour dressed up as training? And what does the response tell us about the state of the modern trade union movement in Britain right now?