Asda staff rally in Glasgow for equal pay for retail workers

Workers gathered outside Asda Govan on Monday morning to demonstrate.

Asda workers from across Scotland have gathered in Glasgow to call for equal pay.

They want retail workers in the supermarkets - mostly women - to be paid the same as their mainly male colleagues in distribution centres.

Workers at the rally, organised by the GMB union, said people working in distribution earn £2 an hour more than retail staff.

Asda said retail and distribution were "very different sectors".

They said men and women working in the retail side of the business were paid equally, as were those in distribution centres.

Staff from Dundee, Perth, and Edinburgh travelled to the Asda Govan Superstore, in Glasgow, for the rally on Monday.

Among those taking part was Mary McNaughton, who has worked in the Govan store for 28 years.

Mary McNaughton said she loves her job, but wants to be paid properly for her work.

"I've got two jobs. I wouldn't need to do that if I was getting a decent wage from my main employer," she said.

"I would get to spend more family time. I've got colleagues who are homeless and they work in Asda. I've got colleagues who are visiting food banks, and they work full time in Asda.

"What they're saying is, what we get is fair. And I would ask them to come and do the work that we do for the pay that they give us, and then ask us if that's fair."

She said there were fewer workers and more work to do.

"I'm a very hard worker and I don't mind doing extra, but give me the money for it," she added.

"We've also got colleagues that unfortunately are no longer with us that have been fighting for equal pay for years and they're not going to see an end to this, and that's sad. It's actually shameful, that's what it is."

Therese Morrison works at the customer service desk and the check-outs.

Therese Morrison works in Asda in Perth and is also GMB representative at the store.

She said that if she had been paid the same amount as male distribution workers, she would have been able to retire early.

"I don't keep in the best of health either. I've only got four years left until I'm entitled to retire. If I got that, I mean it would help me a lot," she added.

"It is a struggle. I mean obviously the climate that we're living in just now. The pay that we get is the lowest, what is it, the bare living wage that we're on now."

Her message to Asda is: "Just give us our money so I can retire."

The rally comes more than two years after thousands of Asda workers won a major victory at the Supreme Court in their battle for equal pay.

The court upheld an earlier ruling that lower-paid shop staff can compare themselves with higher paid warehouse workers.

• Asda workers win key appeal in equal pay fight

Asda is now facing the largest ever private sector equal pay claim from 50,000 current and former workers, according to GMB.

Robert Deanvy, GMB Scotland organiser, said retail workers were classified as key workers during the pandemic.

"We stood on our doorsteps clapping them through Covid, yet this company won't pay them the same money that they'll pay the male workers in distribution.

"So we're calling on ASDA to stop the litigation... Stop throwing money at lawyers and start paying your colleagues the money they deserve.

"It's a very very wealthy company. They can pay this. They're just refusing to do so."

Jackie Ballantyne lost her dad and said she couldn't grieve properly after having to go back to work sooner.

Jackie Ballantyne, a national deputy representative for GMB Scotland, also said she could have retired if her pay was increased.

"I had ill health, I had to return to work after having breast cancer. Had I had this money, then I wouldn't have had to go back to work so early," she said.

"I lost my dad. I couldn't grieve properly. I had to go back after losing my dad. Things like this. It does affect you big time."

In response, an Asda spokesperson said: "At Asda male and female colleagues doing the same jobs in stores are paid the same and this is equally true in our distribution centres.

"We continue to defend these claims because retail and distribution are very different sectors, with their own distinct skill sets and rates of pay."