Tesco is to face protests over the “widening pay gap” between workers and its bosses, with a petition set to be presented at its AGM tomorrow.
The worker-led campaign group Organise will attend the meeting at Tesco’s Welwyn Garden City headquarters to deliver a petition signed by more than 10,000 workers.
The protests revolve around Tesco CEO Ken Murphy, who they say earns 420 times more than the typical Tesco worker.
Murphy’s total pay for 2025/26 was £10,842,069, a rise of over £1m on the previous year, according to Tesco’s 2026 Annual Report.
Tesco’s CEO-to-worker pay ratio worsened from 373:1 to 420:1 in the previous year, according to the report.
Organise said Tesco workers were paid £13.28 per hour, 17p below the real living wage nationally and 25p below in London – meaning workers at the UK’s biggest supermarket cannot afford the independently calculated rate of what it costs to live.
“The pay disparity between Ken Murphy and Tesco’s workers got worse this year, their own annual report confirms it,” said campaign organiser Bamboo Zardetto.
“On 16 April, he said Tesco would do whatever it can to help people with the cost of their weekly shop. Thousands of workers and customers want to know whether that commitment extends to the people stacking his shelves. Tomorrow we’re putting that question to the board, publicly, on the record, in front of investors.”
George Fairhall, founder and CEO of Wac, a fair-pay app used by over 10,000 Tesco employees, added: “When the people stacking the shelves are kept a few pence ahead of minimum wage while the CEO takes home £10.8m, that’s not a hard business decision, it’s a choice about who matters. You can’t claim to care about people’s weekly shop while paying the people who run your shops below the real living wage. I’m backing Organise and these workers all the way.”
However, Tesco strongly defended its pay record when approached by The Grocer.
It said its partnership approach with Usdaw allowed the retailer to focus discussions on pay rates “taking into account the considerations and expectations that are most important to our colleagues”.
It said Usdaw had an “in-depth understanding” of Tesco colleagues’ priorities and Tesco’s business, as well as the wider supermarket sector.
“We have a strong track record of investment in colleague pay,” a Tesco spokesman said.
“In March 2026, we announced an above-inflation pay increase of 5.1%, taking effect from 29 March, bringing the hourly rate to £13.28. This represents a total increase of 43% over the last five years. When it comes to reward, our priority is to discuss and negotiate this with our independent unions.”
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