More than 150 MPs backed calls on Asda’s house owners to settle £2bn equal pay declare
More than 150 MPs have backed pressure on supermarket giant Asda to settle a potential £2billion equal pay claim.
They have signed a letter to the Asda’s private equity co-owners, demanding it begins negotiations with the GMB union.
It comes after more than 60,000 Asda staff begin stage two of the largest ever private sector equal pay claim. The case centres on the gap between what shop workers, mostly female, are paid compared to mostly male warehouse workers. The GMB says the difference can be £3.74 per hour. The stage two ruling, on whether certain store-based roles are of equal value to certain depot roles, is due next year.
The letter from Nadia Whittome, Labour MP for Nottingham East, is addressed to bosses at TDR Capital which, along with the billionaire Issa brothers, bought Asda in a debt-fuelled takeover in 2021.
Ms Whittome writes: “Now is the time for Asda to begin seriously considering how to address the issue of pay discrimination. We believe it is simply unfair for people to be paid differently for doing work of the same value. Everyone deserves equal pay for equal work. As MPs with Asda stores and workers in our constituencies, we urge you to urgently commence settlement negotiations with the GMB union.”
Nearly all those signing the letter are Labour MPs.
The GMB claims Asda’s retail workers are currently owed more than £2billion in back pay. Nadine Houghton, GMB national officer, said: “GMB members working in Asda stores will be delighted to know that politicians support their cause. Low paid women workers have propped up the profits of retail giants for too long, its time they are paid properly for the valuable work they do. The courts and now politicians are waking up to the scale of discrimination faced by women retail workers and now Asda’s owners have a chance to do the right thing and pay them what they are owed.”
An Asda spokesperson recently said: “We fully respect the right of current and former colleagues to bring this case, however, we strongly reject any claim that Asda’s pay rates are influenced by gender. There are numerous different jobs within retail and within warehouses. We continue to defend these claims because retail and distribution are two different industry sectors that have their own distinct skill sets and pay structures.”
