Dozens of supermarket workers will be outside an Asda store in Sutton, accompanied by a life-sized cut-out of billionaire boss Manjit Dale, to demonstrate their anger over the asset stripping of the supermarket.
The shop workers in Sutton reckon Asda owes around £1million in unpaid back-pay to current and past workers at their store alone.
The supermarket’s ultimate owners are TDR Capital, a private equity firm run by Dale.
And as Asda tries to service that debt, it has slashed millions of hours from the shop floor – hitting workers in their wage packets.
This has also had a serious impact in other ways, too, according to the GMB union, which cites “health and safety issues, dirty stores and declining standards”.
GMB workers have been staging a series of protests outside stores in south London this week, accompanied by that life-sized cut-out.
According to the GMB, the Asda asset-stripping by TDR has led to the supermarket becoming the worst performing of the “Big 4” chains, and the most expensive supermarket at which to buy fuel.
According to the GMB, “In Asda Sutton alone, approximately 10% of the [staff working] hours in the store have been cut during the past two years.
Making a point: Asda workers in Bexleyheath were protesting with their cut-out-and-keep Majit Dale this week
“Asda’s shop floor workers – who are predominantly women – are owed billions of pounds in back pay through their equal pay claim.”
In the Sutton store, the GMB says that this amounts to £1million owed to current and previous workers.
The GMB’s Nadine Houghton called it “daylight robbery”.
She said, “Asda workers and customers are paying the price for TDR Capital’s financial engineering.
“TDR Capital are behaving like robber barons and fast becoming the unacceptable face of UK capitalism.
“GMB will not stand by while Asda workers are forced to do more work with less hours and declining health and safety standards.
“The billions of pounds owed to these workers through their equal pay claim grows by the second, too.”
A spokesperson for Asda claimed that the supermarket “remains the cheapest supermarket for drivers to fill up at”. and we are committed to delivering Asda’s great value to even more customers across the country as we grow in the convenience sector.”
The Asda spokesperson said, “Since acquiring Asda in 2021, the shareholders have invested £3.8billion to grow the business organically and via strategic acquisitions.” They added that this includes “a £415million investment in retail pay to make Asda the highest-paying traditional supermarket”.
They said: “At Asda, male and female colleagues doing the same jobs in stores are paid the same and this is equally true in our distribution centres.
“We continue to defend these claims because retail and distribution are very different sectors, with their own distinct skill sets and rates of pay.
“We are investing an additional £30million during the remainder of the year to improve the in-store experience. This includes putting extra hours into store to help colleagues provide an even better service to customers.”
* 2pm UPDATE: Comments added from Asda press office
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