Students target Morrisons

Submitted by bethanwilliams on Llun, Feb 23rd am 11:03 yb
Students have pasted posters in the Morrisons store in Aberystwyth as part of a national campaign against the supermarket because of its lack of Welsh language services.

The students put up posters declaring 'Boycott Morrisons' on the shop's banners. The organisation says that hundreds of people have agreed to boycott the company that has seen its profits fall in recent months.Manon Elin, a member of Cell Pantycelyn, the local students’ branch of Cymdeithas, and the association's language rights group vice-chair said:
"As students in Aberystwyth we are lucky to have a natural Welsh community, but companies such as Morrisons show the need to include supermarkets and high street stores to the list of companies to come under language legislation, to ensure that the rights of Welsh speakers are respected."
 
In January 2014 there was much discontent when staff at Morrisons refused a prescription as it was in Welsh, Cymdeithas yr Iaith wrote to the company to demand a meeting to discuss changes to ensure fairness for the Welsh langugae and company's customers in Wales. Since December 2014 the language movement has called a national boycott of stores until Cymdeithas' calls have been implemented.
 

Manon Elin added:

"Before taking action today, Pantycelyn students held a survey of Welsh language provision in the Aberystwyth store, and nationally we have been, and continue to discuss with Morrisons, but even after years of discussions we have not seen any significant change, and there is no national language policy. Although we have targeted the shop in Aberystwyth today, leadership is needed from Morrisons' head offices. They must adopt a national language policy that reflects the status of the language, and create consistency throughout all their stores in Wales. We can’t continue to accept empty promises over months and years, without seeing any development.

"Also, English language signs have replaced bilingual signs recently, as some shops in Wales have been rebranded. There is no justification for this. We believe that Morrisons, as a profit-making company in Wales, have a duty to respect the Welsh language."

Pictures following the action