Asda has come under renewed pressure to rethink a wage shake-up which could strip staff of paid lunch breaks and leave thousands of workers poorer.
Around 60,000 hourly-paid retail staff are to face changes to their contracts, the supermarket chain announced last week, with an overall hike in the minimum wage of 79p, from £8.21 to £9.
But around 3,000 staff could be made worse off as they will be expected to work “more flexible hours”, including bank holidays, and won’t be paid for their lunch breaks.
Labour MP Siobhain McDonagh, who has written to the chain’s chief executive Roger Burnley, said she is “completely appalled” and claimed the wage bump was being used “as a smokescreen to slash the salaries of 3,000 of their most loyal staff”.
Around 2,700 staff will lose up to £500 a year and 300 will lose even more as a result of the move, according to the GMB union.
McDonagh, whose Mitcham and Morden is home to a large Asda superstore, told HuffPost: “Asda is one of the high streets most longstanding and well-respected brands.
“Of course I welcome any increase in basic pay, but I am completely appalled that this is being used as a smokescreen to slash the salaries of 3,000 of their most loyal staff. That’s Asda price.”
In February, Asda reported its seventh quarter of a positive growth in a row.
The GMB union has called on the supermarket to consult.
Gary Carter, national officer for the union, said: “These contract changes will affect nearly 60,000 members of staff they cannot just be imposed from the top.
“We expect Asda to negotiate.”
The wage rise will mean a boost in the pay packet for the vast majority of workers.
A worker paid £8.21 an hour doing 39 hours a week currently earns £16,649.88 a year. This will rise to £18,252 a year.
An Asda spokesperson said: “We are currently consulting with our colleagues and their representatives over a proposal to invest in an increased rate of pay and changes to terms and conditions, which would enable us to deliver better service to our customers in an intensely competitive marketplace and would make 95% of our colleagues financially better off.
“This consultation is ongoing and we will always have conversations about change with our colleagues first.”
Speaking after the contract changes were announced last week, Asda’s senior vice president for operations, Anthony Hemmerdinger, said: “Our colleagues do an amazing job every day and we want to continue to reward them with a higher rate of pay, plus benefits such as their annual bonus.
“As our customers continue to change the way they shop with us, we also have to be prepared to change to meet their needs and a key part of delivering great service is having the right colleagues in the right place at the right time, which is what this contract aims to achieve.”
Asda is also embarking on a £7bn merger with Sainsbury’s in a move which would see it overtake Tesco’s as the UK’s largest chain.
The move could yet be blocked by the UK competition watchdog, the Competition and Markets Authority, which is currently considering the bid.