ASDA workers and life size cut out of boss Manjit Dale, will hold photo call at Lewisham Asda store over asset stripping
Dozens of Asda workers and a life-size cut out of boss Manjit Dale will all be outside Lewisham ASDA store to demonstrate their anger over the asset stripping of the supermarket.
ASDA WORKERS AND LIFE SIZE CUT OUT OF BOSS MANJIT DALE, WILL HOLD PHOTO CALL AT LEWISHAM ASDA STORE OVER ASSET STRIPPING
Where: ASDA Lewisham Unit 1 and 2 Thurston Point, Thurston Road, Lewisham SE13 7SD
When: Thursday 29th August 2024 at 12pm Noon
Contact: Rob Carlson on 07866 441656
Dozens of Asda workers and a life-size cut out of boss Manjit Dale will all be outside Lewisham ASDA store to demonstrate their anger over the asset stripping of the supermarket.
Under TDR Capital, Asda’s private equity owners, millions of hours have been slashed from the shop floor as the company desperately tries to service its debt mountain. [1]
This has led to health and safety issues, dirty stores and declining standards.
In Asda Lewisham alone, GMB estimates approximately 6 percent of store hours have been cut during the past two years. [2]
ASDA’s shop floor workers – who are predominantly women – are owed billions of pounds in back pay through their equal pay claim.
In the Lewisham store this amounts to £1.1million owed to current and previous ASDA workers. [3]
Nadine Houghton, GMB National Officer, said:
“This is daylight robbery of a much-loved British institution with Asda workers and customers paying the price for TDR Capital’s financial engineering.
“TDR Capital are behaving like robber barons and fast becoming the unacceptable face of UK capitalism.
“GMB will not stand by while Asda workers are forced to do more work with less hours and declining health and safety standards.
“The billions of pounds owed to these workers through their equal pay claim grows by the second too.
“Figures released by GMB today show the impact that cutting hours is having to your local Asda and how much the workers in your store are owed through their equal pay claim.”
ENDS
Media enquiries: GMB Press Office on 07958 156846 or at press.office@gmb.org.uk
Notes to Editors:
[1] Under TDR Capital, ASDA has seen:
- A current debt pile of £4.84bn
- An additional £1.5bn of borrowing against ASDA to buy EG group petrol stations
- Sale and Leaseback of its warehouses
- Borrowing against 55 ASDA supermarkets
- Declining market position to become the worst performing of the Big 4 supermarkets
- Most expensive UK supermarket to buy fuel
(All sourced from this article Asda’s owners piled on £1.5bn of liabilities to fund petrol station deal (ft.com) )
