Asda chair Lord Stuart Rose is “asking people to be thoughtful” amid the current wave of strikes hitting the UK.
Speaking on Sky News’ Beth Rigby Interviews programme, Rose said that while some on strike “are pushing it a little harder than perhaps they should,” he added that “we need to look at every case on a case-by-case basis.”
Of those currently striking, which includes Royal Mail employees, rail service staff and nurses, pay comes as one of the main driving factors as inflation remains above 10% and the cost-of-living crisis continues.
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“I’m not going to go into the detail of who I think has got the better case and the worst case. But some people are pushing it a little bit harder than perhaps they should and some people do deserve these rises,” Rose said.
He added that while “it’s not a question of who deserves a rise, it’s a question of how much we can afford to give people and when can we afford to do it?”
Urging people to “take a little bit of thoughtfulness”, Rose said that while the current trading environment is “very tough”, consumers will want to be able to enjoy this Christmas.
With inflationary pressures piling on top of the cost of presents and festive food, he added that UK households “want to have a nice celebration on the day, they’ll want to look after their children but they’ve been very thoughtful about what they can afford and what they can’t afford.”
This comes as earlier this month, Rose said it was “shocking” that 20% of all households in the UK are living on a £60 a month deficit.
The figure from a new survey by Asda found that Brits do not have enough to live on each month as a result of soaring energy bills and rising prices.
