Asda is facing strike action at its distribution depots in the coming weeks after thousands of workers said they were ready to walk out in a dispute over pay.
Representatives from the GMB union are set to agree on the next steps in moving to a formal strike ballot after 94% of warehouse, clerical workers, and lorry drivers voted in favour of action.
The GMB is calling for action after Asda’s failure to make a “meaningful pay offer” for distribution staff amid soaring inflation.
The union revealed that it had written to Asda this week asking if it is holding back distribution workers’ pay because of potential future liabilities in a long-running equal pay claim.
GMB is currently engaged in a battle on the issue of equal pay for 40,000 predominantly women shopfloor workers in Asda, who the union believes do not get the same money for the same value work as people employed in the retailer’s distribution centres.
Nadine Houghton, GMB National Officer, said: “This immense vote in favour of industrial action shows the bubbling anger and resentment among the workers. They know what they are worth and they feel Asda is trying to take them for mugs.
“Asda workers are risking their lives as this pandemic rages on – our members in the depots lost colleagues to this disease.
“They have kept this nation fed throughout every lockdown, turning up for work day in day out. All they are now asking for is a fair slice of the pandemic profit pie, which Asda directors have benefited hugely from, money our hard-working members created for the company.
“It’s repugnant corporate behaviour, and workers are ready to strike.”
Meanwhile, a planned two-day strike, including Christmas Eve, by lorry drivers employed by Tesco-owned Booker Retail Partners at its Thamesmead site, which could have hit deliveries to 1,500 convenience stores in London and the south east, has been suspended.
Unite the union announced yesterday that the strikes by the 45-strong workforce had now been suspended until 31 January so that a review into pay could now go ahead.
The dispute hit the headlines during the summer when Booker put in place a temporary £5 an hour pay uplift for drivers at its Hemel Hempstead depot because of the HGV driver shortage. However, the company then refused to implement a similar uplift for the drivers at the Thamesmead site.
Amid the threat of strike action, further negotiations led to new pay proposals, which at the time were kept confidential. However, earlier this month, Unite accused the wholesaler’s management of “bad faith” for reneging on an agreement that the drivers’ pay would be reviewed in February 2022 after they voted to accept a 3.3% pay increase in October.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “The Booker management has seen sense and an in-depth review of pay will now happen in January that will take into account the recent pay rises across the sector.
“Of course, we wait to see what happens now. Unite remains dedicated to advancing the jobs, pay and conditions of all its HGV driver members, including those at Booker.”
Last week, Tesco averted strike action by workers at distribution centres for its supermarkets in the run-up to Christmas after agreeing to increase their pay by 6%.
NAM Implications:
- Welcome back to the knife-edge of ‘Everybody out!’
- Hopefully industrial action will never go back that far.
- But the system stress caused by the planned Asda initiative…
- …risks adding to the pressure of high gearing in 2022.
- Watch this space…
