Half of Asda employees are worried about being able to afford Christmas dinner this year according to GMB, as the retailer is the lowest paid of the Big 4 grocers.
As a result, the trade union has called on Asda to increase the base rate of shop floor pay to £10.50 per hour.
Its national officer, Nadine Houghton said that “without an urgent pay rise, Christmas will be cancelled for thousands of Asda workers.”
This comes following GMB’s survey of 3,200 Asda workers which found three quarters are worried about affording Christmas presents and one third worried about hosting family over the festive period.
For 87% of poll respondents, being able to heat their homes was also a worry amid the current cost of living and energy crisis.
Houghton added: “The biggest squeeze on living standards in over a generation is an issue Asda bosses cannot ignore. We are now seeing mid-year pay increases being awarded by other retailers, leaving Asda playing catch up instead of leading the way on staff pay and benefits.
“GMB is now calling on Asda to act quickly and invest in staff to stop them facing a truly bleak winter.”
However, GMB has said that Asda turned down its pay rise request.
This comes following Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Aldi’s recent wage increases to help workers cope with the cost-of-living crisis, which now sees Aldi paying its staff £10.50 an hour, Tesco £10.30, Sainsbury’s £10.20 and Asda £10.10, respectively.
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Worst of all us Delivery Drivers get paid the exact same as shop floor workers. In comparison Tesco and other supermarkets pay the Drivers slightly more as they have to do hard work and a more stressful role.