Asda home delivery strike looms large amid pay cut concerns
The GMB union is set to ballot its members working as Asda home delivery drivers after learning of “shocking” management plans that include removing a pay supplement which, it claims, will see wages cut by £1.50 per hour.
The ballot, which opens tomorrow, will close in four weeks' time. If the dispute continues, the GMB says that it may result in strike action in the run up to Christmas.
It adds that any strike would severely affect Asda’s service, which makes over one million home deliveries a week.
Declan MacIntyre, GMB Regional Organiser, comments: “This is a shocking and worrying announcement by Asda.”
“Our members are horrified and frightened about how they will pay their bills on their basic earnings.”
“On the same day that Asda have announced these pay cuts, Tesco has announced an increase in pay for their staff. If the Prime Minister Liz Truss and Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng can keep making u-turns, hopefully Asda can do the same.”
He concludes: “If they refuse to do so, I have no doubt that our members will be voting in favour of strike action in the upcoming ballot.”
An Asda spokesperson told RTIH: “In July, we began a trial in a small number of stores to pay a discretionary supplement to delivery drivers in order to assess what impact this has on colleague recruitment and retention.”
“This trial was scheduled to end in December, but will finish at the end of this month, because it has not delivered the desired results. We have spoken to all colleagues impacted by this change.”
GoodMaps trial
Asda is expanding its trial of technology which will make it easier for blind and partially sighted customers to navigate their way through a store whilst they do their shopping.
Following an initial trial at the grocery giant’s designated technology innovation store in Stevenage, it is integrating a further 10 stores into the GoodMaps smartphone app.
Neil Fairclough, Senior Director of Retail Transformation Asda, says: “The trial at our Stevenage store showed us that this technology can really make a difference to customers who previously had difficulty navigating the aisles whilst shopping.”
“The value of these trials is that we can take the learnings from each step and better integrate the technology as we go further into the trial phase, ensuring an even better experience for our customers and colleagues in these trial stores.”
