1 week Ago By [email protected] (Ruby Flanagan)
Over 60,000 Asda workers have taken the supermarket chain to court today in a major pay discrimination case. Asda warehouse staff are taking their case to the Employment Tribunal today in the largest ever private sector equal pay claim according to the GMB Union. The case, expected to last three months, centres on the fact the predominantly female retail workforce is paid up to £3.
74 per hour less than the predominantly male warehouse workforce. Asda workers are arguing that the retail work is of "equal value" to the company as warehouse work. If successful, the bill for Asda could run into billions of pounds.
Have you been affected by this case? Contact us at [email protected] As the case begins in court today, workers in Manchester will demonstrate outside the Civil Justice Centre while in Brighton, Asda staff will protest at the TUC congress, where delegates will debate GMB’s motion on equal pay for Asda workers. The case is the latest step in a twelve-year fight for equal pay by Asda retail workers and is the second stage of the case.
The tribunal follows a recent decision at an employment tribunal for fashion retailer Next, which lost an equal pay battle. Its shop sales staff are paid less than warehouse workers, again with a similar gender divide to the Asda case, and the tribunal ruled Next had failed to show this was not sex discrimination. Next had said the market wage for warehouse work was greater than that of shop workers and gender was not a factor, but the tribunal said this was not a lawful defence where the workforces are doing “equal work”.
Leigh Day, which represented Next staff in their claim, is also taking the fight to Asda for its staff. Lauren Lougheed, Leigh Day partner, said: “The equal pay team at Leigh Day is very encouraged by the huge success we experienced just last week on behalf of the many thousands of women we represent who have been fighting for equal pay at Next. “We hope we will also be successful in the parallel claim we are bringing on behalf of more than 60,000 clients against Asda.
If we win at this Stage 3 hearing, Asda will then have to prove that there is a genuine reason for the pay difference between store workers and warehouse workers which is not based on sex. Next bosses failed to do this and our clients won. We are confident that the same will be true in the Asda claim.
” Nadine Houghton, GMB national officer, said: “Asda workers are making history. The result of this hearing will call time on the retailers undervaluing their predominantly women shop floor workers. The entire retail sector has been built on the structural undervaluing of women’s work but GMB members are changing this.
” An Asda spokesperson 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.
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