Well, where to begin with this one? In European news this week it has come to our attention that the Commercial Employees Union: Handelsanställdas förbund – Handelsis to sue Lingerie firm Change, over their policy that staff in their Swedish branch have to wear
name badges which also list their bust size.
According to The Local, an online news site for Sweden’s news in English, negotiations broke down between the union and the firm when they failed to reach an amicable agreement over staff having display their bust size to any customer who wants to peer.
The CEO of Change told The Local that the size badges were completely voluntary, and had been suggested by staff members originally. However, staff members told the Swedish paper a different story, claiming that failure to wear the badges could result in being marked down in a mystery shop for not complying with uniform standards.
The reason behind the badges is allegedly to inform customers of the size range the shop stocks. Here at Newsnibbles, the interns formed a think tank to see if they could come up with an alternative that could work for everyone. Here are their thoughts:
“What if, instead of name badges displaying a customer assistant’s personal size, there was simply signage around the shop saying something like ‘Our sizes range from X-Y. If you are unsure about your size please ask a member of staff, who will be happy to assist you’? This sign could be displayed in both English and Swedish.” Well, that’s more thinking than the interns have done all year.
Since we endeavour to always bring you the most relevant comments on all of our news stories we asked a number of bra fitters what they thought of the recent story.
“I don’t think where I work will adopt this policy, and no the bra doesn’t fit [referring to the picture displayed by The Local]. Although, on second thought it would make it easier when men come in shopping and say that ‘she is about your size.’” – Katie.
“It’s shocking! Mind you it would be rather funny if the boot was on the other foot, and men in a man’s underwear dept had to wear their penis size on their jackets!” – Hillary
We also asked average man on the street and Swedish resident, Sven (name has been changed to protect his privacy) what he thought of the whole story.
“If they need a badge to remember their bra size then they’re a bit thick, innit?” – Thanks Sven.
We asked the fans if they would like their name and bra size displayed in this story, for literally tens of people to see. We had no takers.
You can read the full story here: http://www.thelocal.se/37084/20111101/
And for the chance to have your views seen by literally tens of people, as well as all the latest news, you can “like” us here: www.facebook.com/newsnibbles – you know you do a bit anyway.
