Over 150 members of parliament have called upon Asda’s bosses to settle their ongoing gender-equal pay legal battle, according to the GMB union.

159 MPs have signed a letter to Asda bosses

Some 159 MPs have written to Asda’s majority owners TDR Capital, urging for them to put an end to the ‘gender discrimination’ employment case, which is currently in its second stage.

The letter urges TDR Capital founding and managing partners Manjit Dale and Gary Lindsay “to urgently commence settlement negotiations with the GMB union”.

The letter also claims that the backdated pay retail workers are “owed” could now amount to more than £2bn, and adds “now is the time for Asda to begin seriously considering how to address the issue of pay discrimination”.

While the lead signatory is Labour MP Nadia Whittome, other notable names include Labour former shadow home secretary Diane Abbott, and current Plaid Cymru Westminster group leader Liz Saville-Roberts.

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.”

GMB national officer Nadine Houghton said: “GMB members working in Asda stores will be delighted to know that politicians support their cause.

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“Low paid women workers have propped up the profits of retail giants for too long, its time they are paid properly for the valuable work they do. The courts and now politicians are waking up to the scale of discrimination faced by women retail workers and now Asda’s owners have a chance to do the right thing and pay them what they are owed,” Houghton added.

The letter follows in the wake of Asda workers earlier this month staging demonstrations as the supermarket giant’s second stage of its landmark court case kicked off, set to impact over 60,000 employees.

Asda has been brought before the Employment Tribunal and is expected to explain why it pays its predominantly female retail workforce up to £3.74 an hour less than its warehouse workers, who are mainly male, in a trial set to last three months.

It is the latest retailer to be brought to tribunal over an equal pay claim after fashion retailer Next earlier this month lost its case.

Fellow supermarkets Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Co-op are set to undergo their own court cases in the future.

Representing the GMB union, Leigh Day partner Lauren Lougheed said: “If our clients 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 and also in the other equal pay claims we are bringing on behalf of many thousands of other supermarket store workers.”