Asda has proposed a record investment of £150m to boost retail pay and become the highest paying UK grocery retailer.
The change will see an 8.4% increase for hourly-paid store colleagues from 1 July, with rates rising to £12.04 nationally and to £13.21 inside the M25.
The new proposed rates are set to apply to the supermarket giant’s colleagues in Asda Retail and Asda Express subject to ballot.
Usdaw, the trade union that negotiates with Asda on retail pay in Northern Ireland and Asda Express is recommending members accept the rate in the ballot that closes on 15 March.
The outcome with confirmation of the pay rate increase for colleagues who have joined the business from former EG Group sites will be confirmed on 18 March.
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The investment would boost hourly pay rates for more than 120,000 colleagues and would follow a 10% increase for hourly-paid retail roles during 2023 and a 28% total increase in retail pay since the acquisition of Asda by the Issa brothers and TDR Capital in 2021 – a total investment of almost £415m.
Asda co-owner Mohsin Issa said: “This record investment will see Asda become the highest paying grocery retailer in the UK, recognising the hard work of our store colleagues in serving customers every day.
“We want to be a company that people are proud to work for, which is why we are proposing increasing pay for retail and Express colleagues by more than 8% this year.”
Usdaw national officer Jayne Allport added: “We are pleased to have negotiated a pay increase to £12.04, which takes the basic hourly rate above the real Living Wage and meets our demands of at least £12 per hour.
“Retail staff are key workers in our communities, ensuring that the nation is fed; they deserve our respect and one of the best ways of showing that is with decent pay, particularly in a cost of living crisis.”
4 Comments. Leave new
What about being “skilled” workers like everyone gets the same pay but the van drivers should be on more for being skilled
All smoke and mirrors!
Wages aren’t going up to the higher rate until July, making the real pay rise only an average £11.89 over the year!
Except it wont be an 8.4% increase in July, it will be a 3.0% increase in April because the government is increasing the National Living Wage, followed by a 5.2% increase in July. If Asda are so generous, why not increase in April?
Aged like milk this announcement, pat themselves on the back for being the highest paying, now barely a few weeks later they are the lowest once again.