Asda staff secure wage rise as supermarket giant slashes cost of staple items

A trade union has welcomed Asda's decision to increase its hourly rate for shop floor workers to £10.10 from later this year

It came as the supermarket group said it was reducing the price of over 100 popular items, including tea bags, rice and cheddar cheese, for the year as part of the measures.

The GMB union has campaigned for a rise in wages from £9.66 an hour to £10.10 for those working in stores across the country.

It hailed the increase in wages, which will come into effect in July, of thousands of Asda staff as an "important moment".

Asda said it was investing over £73 million to support customers and staff during the cost-of-living crisis over the next year.

Our sister paper the Sunday Mail reported earlier this year that workers couldn't afford to shop at the store and were turning to food banks to feed themselves.

The union hit out at the retailer earlier this month after an increased hourly rate highlighted differences between people who work in stores and in distribution centres.

Retail staff – mostly women – were given a 3.6 per cent rise, taking them to £9.66 an hour.

Warehouse workers – predominantly men – are continuing to negotiate their pay hike and have just rejected an offer of between 6.5 and 7.5 per cent that would have taken their wages up to £11.98 an hour.

GMB Scotland Organiser Robert Deavy said: "It’s never too late to do the right thing, so the fact that ASDA bosses have listened to our members concerns and increased the basic rate of pay for retail staff is a win for workers.

"Breaking through the £10 an hour threshold is an important moment for thousands of ASDA retail staff in Scotland, but this must be the start of a process that makes work better in this supermarket giant.

"If ASDA genuinely wants to help its staff confront the cost-of-living crisis then they must also settle their equal pay liabilities owed to tens of thousands of women workers in retail and agree to proper collective bargaining on the future of our members pay and conditions."

Asda, which was bought by the Issa brothers and backers TDR Capital last year, has become the latest supermarket to push down prices of some items as households come under increased financial pressure.

Earlier on Monday, rival Morrisons said it would cut the price of around 500 items including eggs, beef and nappies amid the rising cost of living.

Asda's products covered by the "dropped and locked" price pledge will see an average reduction of 12 per cent, including a 25 per cent drop in the price of a bag of Asda easy cook rice to 75p.

Mohsin Issa, co-owner of Asda, said: "We know that household budgets are being squeezed by an increasing cost of living and we are committed to doing everything we can to support our customers, colleagues and communities in these exceptionally tough times.

"We're standing side by side with the families and communities who are juggling so many demands at the moment.

"We're taking unprecedented action to give families some additional stability and certainty in their weekly shopping by lowering and locking over 100 prices until the end of the year.

"We're also proud to be investing in increasing the pay for our hard-working store colleagues and continuing to support the communities we are part of."

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