'Please, just let us go home' appeal from thousands of Corby and Kettering workers

Thousands of people working in logistics and manufacturing across Corby, Kettering, East Northants and Wellingborough have asked their employers to let them stay at home amid worries that they in danger of contracting deadly coronavirus.

On Tuesday (March 23) evening, the Northants Telegraph asked readers to tell us if they were worried about going into work after the Government warned people to stay at home to prevent the spread of the virus and protect the NHS.

The hundreds of emails and messages told a shocking story of some workers being unable to practise social distancing at work, of having no PPE or hand gel. , and of still being expected to go into work despite having vulnerable people at home - with the threat of no pay if they do not comply.

All the firms are operating legally as the government has allowed most businesses that aren’t public-facing to remain open.

An estimated 30 per cent of Corby's workforce is manufacturing - three times the national average - meaning the town still has many more people in work than other towns of the same size.

Worried workers at major sites including Mick George In Rushton, Joules's Clipper warehouse in Corby, Fairline Yachts in Oundle, Avon's distribution HQ in Corby, Matalan's distribution hub and i-Force which distributes non-grocery products for Aldi, Tesco and John Lewis all got in touch to share their concerns.

They were joined by staff at Corby's biggest employer RS Components, Kettering-based Walls and Floors, Corby's Staples distribution centre, Groupe Cat car storage at Rockingham Speedway, packaging companies Amaray and Smurfit Kappa and Bosch's distribution hub in Kettering.

Corby's Tata, Advanced Supply Chain, Aluminium Shapes, Capital Injection Ceramics, Celular Mouldings and Wellingborough's DHL Homebase workers are all still expected in, as are employees at Paperchase distribution in Thrapston and Primark in Islip.

Employees at dozens of other smaller firms that perform non-essential functions have also been told they must turn up to work.

One Corby employee who contacted our reporters said: "Let's not beat around the bush here. Most of the managers telling us we have to come into work are already working from home themselves. They're sitting in their homes while we're contracting coronavirus.

"This virus, in places like Corby, will disproportionately affect blue-collar, working class people. This is profit before people. It's totally unacceptable."

Earlier this week the Government told places including non-essential high street shops, churches, hairdressers, libraries, playgrounds, leisure centres and hotels that they must shut down to try to halt the alarming spread of Covid-19, which has already claimed at least two lives in Northamptonshire. It means these businesses will be in line for government help to pay staff wages.

But crucially, their advice did not extend to logistics or manufacturing industries.

And yesterday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock doubled-down on the Government's desire to keep these industries running when he said in the House of Commons: "I want to be clear that where people absolutely cannot work from home, they can still go to work. Indeed it’s important that they do to keep the country running."

One worker at the Wincanton Argos distribution hub in Kettering said: "We feel that the company is not following government advice and they are putting us at risk. Social distancing was only introduced this week and people have been lining up too close together to clock in and clock out.

At Tata steel in Corby, one person said bosses were 'paying lip service' to new H&S guidelines. He said: "Every single person here is disgusted and angry they are making us attend work."

Another said: "They are not supplying hand sanitiser or antibacterial handwash. On Monday there were 40 men after shift using three bars of soap. These men are finishing shift and are absolutely filthy."

An internal memo, seen by Northants Telegraph reporters, said Tata were taking an industrial sized delivery of hand sanitser for workers to use and were planning to take the temperature of everyone arriving on site - as soon as thermometers arrive.

At iforce in Geddington Road, Corby, which distributes homewares for big-name stores like Aldi, John Lewis and Tesco, one worker said: "Some of our clients have even shut down the stores yet we are still here working - even being forced to do banked hours and overtime because of how busy we are.

"We're risking our lives to get to and from work every day to even be told 'you are lucky to have a job' and 'your rates ain't high enough we need you to pick more'. Constantly... daily.

"They are employing more and more people everyday and it's starting to become a problem. We are told to sit two at a table two meters away but the tables ain't big enough and there's not enough tables. Some people have had to eat lunch on the floor."

Several workers at Mick George in Rushton got in touch to say that staff did not have hand sanitser and had not been allowed to use toilets on sites. One said: "We have been directly informed that if we do not show up for work we will not be paid SSP. To put it bluntly we've been told to 'stop moaning and get on with it.'"

In one alarming case, an internal message shown to our reporters By staff at the Zara Clipper warehouse in Northampton said that anyone 'pretending' to have coronavirus would be investigated for gross misconduct, adding: "Please note that we are entering the pollen season so anyone sneezing or coughing does not automatically have the virus, it’s likely to be hay fever."

At Clipper's Corby base, which distributes clothing for Joules, staff have been told that the site will remain open.

One said: "We are all want to stay home with our families, as the prime minister recommended. I'm really worried about me and my family.

"I'm working with about 100 people on one shift. All of these people are in one queue to clock in and out, without any gap between each other, without any masks

"Unfortunately there is no chance to take any paid days off - they are not seeing any problem at all. It looks like this pandemic is a time for 'buying new clothes online'. It's so crazy."

A memo to from Clipper bosses to all employees said: "Where there is continuity of work, you will be required to attend. If you choose not to attend for work, we will respect your position but we will have to treat this as unauthorised absence (which is, as you will appreciate, unpaid)."

Over at Avon in Corby, where workers distribute beauty products, one operative said: "I am scared to go and put myself at risk and in turn my partner and children but as I am on a zero hours contract feel I have no choice but to go. I also worry that if the factory does indeed close I will be left without work.

"I feel like I am on the verge of a panic attack every second of the day."

Fairline Yachts, which builds luxury boats in Oundle, is also still open. One worker there said: "Post lock-down, management walked in and said 'you can stay and be paid or walk out now and not get paid'. I don’t see how or why building yachts would be essential to life at this point."

Several employees at Staples in Corby got in touch. One said: "The government says we can't send our kids to school because we're not key workers but our company says we have to come in because we're keyworkers. So if we have no childcare, what are we supposed to do?"

Matalan workers in Corby said they were having to work in close quarters with others inside containers.

Labour deputy leader candidate Angela Rayner yesterday called on the government to stop all non-essential work including construction.

One Corby window-making company, CWG Choices, has made the tough decision to close its manufacturing operation from Friday over safety fears.

Managing director Chris Powell said: "Current disruptions in the supply chains, on both sides of our business, are too comprehensive for us to continue doing business in a responsible manner. Our first priority is to protect our employees and limit the spread of Covid-19, but we also take responsibility for keeping up our operations to create jobs and maintain activity in the UK economy.

Groupe CAT said that they had now decided to release 80 per cent of their employees who would be eligible for the Government's job retention scheme and would only keep on a smaller, voluntary workforce. Managing director Stuart Warren added: "We will keep the situation under review as it evolves, and will keep an eye on when we will all be able to return to full working and healthy growth.”

Advanced Supply Chain said that their priority was the wellbeing of their team, adding that they were staying open because the wanted to keep retail supply chains moving. They said they were 'working through' the detail of the Government's employee retention offer. Their spokeswoman added: "We have social distancing guidelines in place for those working in the operations.

"The majority of our collections and deliveries are done using our mobile device app which reduces the requirements for handling paperwork reducing the risk to our team and those they come into contact with. We’ve worked with every single employee to provide support for those with dependents, including options of alternative shift patterns."

Fairline Yachts said that they were staying open to ensure their company stays afloat and fulfils customer orders while it still can. A spokesman said : "We have expert craftspeople and outstanding boat builders in Oundle and if we close our doors immediately, all of these people would be without work – we need to keep them in business now, whilst we still can, to ensure their future once this pandemic is over."

They said breaks were being staggered and employees were working two metres away from one another, with 'continuous' deep cleaning.

The spokesman added: "We are very grateful for the support pledged by the government. However we are concerned that the system initially may not be able to handle the massive influx of claims. Our nervousness around this is not that the government will not make good on its promise, but that they may struggle to fulfil these payments to every employee who needs it, at the precise time they need it."

An Argos Wincanton spokesman said: “Home and hardware has been designated essential retail and we are carefully following Government advice to keep Britain’s supply chains moving – it’s critical that we have the right people and infrastructure in place to support the country’s requirements in line with that advice, whether that’s food and food production, medical supplies, hardware for tradespeople and construction workers, fuel and milk deliveries, building materials and personal safety equipment.

They said they were working 'flat-out' to supply PPE, to adhere to social distancing guidelines and had changed shift patterns to limit the number of workers entering at any one time.

Avon said that they had already told as many workers as possible to work from home - including contact centre staff - and that they were keen to support their reps as, for many, it is their only source of income.

The spokeswoman added: "Avon’s brilliant staff are all committed to providing communities across the UK with much needed toiletries and wellbeing items

"In response to the urgent need for more hand gels and hand soaps, Avon is fast tracking production and supply for people across the UK including the NHS and charity. All Avon reps will be supplied with hand gels to help keep them and their families safe. This will include staff at Corby."

She said that they had offered vulnerable people paid leave and had offered other employees flexible working.

A spokesman for RS Components said that they provided goods for clients in ‘critical industries’ including the NHS and therefore their distribution staff were classes as key workers.

A raft of safety measures has been introduced for staff there including extra cleaning, PPE, hand sanitisers and wipes and monitoring of hand cleansing by security teams. They have also split shifts to ‘minimise contact’.

The statement said: “The health, safety and wellbeing of our people and customers is our number one priority and at the heart of everything we do at RS. A high number of our customers are in critical industries such as the public sector (including the NHS), food manufacturing and power generation and utilities.

”While we continue to support these important organisations, we are adhering to advice from government health agencies including the World Health Organisation.”