Asda workers protest as multibillion-pound equal pay hearing begins

Asda workers will stage demonstrations today to mark the start of an equal pay claim that could have huge consequences for the supermarket and other retailers.

Protests will be held outside the Manchester Civil Justice Centre, where the case begins this morning, and outside the TUC Congress in Brighton, which is debating a GMB motion on equal pay for Asda workers today.

The case, which is expected to last for up to three months, centres on the fact the predominantly female retail workforce at Asda is is paid up to £3.74 per hour less than the predominantly male warehouse workforce.

Claimants will argue retail work is of equal value to the company as warehouse work.

It is the latest stage in a rollercoaster 12-year battle over equal pay by Asda retail workers. Union leaders said they were confident it would establish that retail and warehouse work was of equal value and needed to be paid equally.

If successful, the bill for Asda could run into billions of pounds.

Last month, the Employment Tribunal ruled in favour of workers at fashion chain Next, in a case which also saw workers dispute different rates of pay between retail and warehouse staff.

At the hearing in May this year, Next had argued that market forces explained the pay difference between the store workers and warehouse employees, and that sex did not come into pay decisions.

Law firm Leigh Day is representing thousands of other retail workers in similar claims, including 30,000 shop staff at Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda, and a £1bn claim against Morrisons.

“Asda workers are making history,” said GMB national officer Nadine Houghton. “The result of this hearing will call time on the retailers undervaluing their predominantly women shop floor workers.

“The entire retail sector has been built on the structural undervaluing of women’s work but GMB members are changing this.”

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.”