Asda has slammed claims by union bosses that its workers are among the lowest-paid supermarket workers in the UK, even after their latest pay rise.
The GMB union claimed that despite hourly pay at the retail giant going up to £12.45 per hour from 6 July, Asda staff were still lagging behind workers at Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Aldi and Lidl.
It also claimed a promised wage rise to £12.60 per hour had been delayed to October, leaving workers on average £200 worse off over the year.
“Asda has been stripped to the bone by its private equity owners TDR Capital who fail to understand shop floor staff are one of its biggest assets,” claimed GMB national officer Nadine Houghton.
“Any turnaround plan not putting retail staff front, back and centre will fail – these essential workers need to be invested in, not forced into poverty.
“GMB calls on Asda to deliver an above inflation pay rise every April, pay back the £200 workers have had stolen through this staggered, penny-pinching approach and to give them the money owed to them when they were not being paid the national minimum wage rates in April.”
Asda strenuously rejected the union’s take on its pay award, which was unveiled in March.
It said the announcement included an £80m investment in retail pay to increase hourly rates for store-based colleagues to £12.60 from October. It said this meant 115,000 Asda Retail and Asda Express colleagues received an above inflation increase of 4.7% in three phases, taking rates from £12.04 to £12.60 per hour.
Meanwhile, hourly rates for colleagues at stores inside the M25 rose to £13.82.
Asda also said that since it was acquired by the shareholder group in 2021, it had invested more than half a billion in retail pay, increasing the hourly base rate by 35% from £9.36 to £12.60.
The supermarket also rejected union claims that due to a loophole in the law, it paid retail workers below the national minimum wage during the first two weeks of April.
It asserted that while new new national minimum wage rates came into effect on 1 April, the supermarket’s pay cycle was four-weekly, meaing the last “pay reference period” at the old rate ran from 16 March to 12 April. It said the new rates were subsequently applied from the following day, in line with HMRC guidance.
A spokesperson added: “Asda has invested over £500m in retail pay since 2021, including £80m in the current year. This year’s investment takes place in three phases, with rates rising from £12.04 in April to £12.60 by October. Asda is fully compliant with all National Minimum Wage requirements.”
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