Supermarket chain Asda has announced that, as of on 21 October, it will end the £1.50-an-hour pay premium introduced in the summer to help attract and retain grocery delivery drivers.
More than 1,500 drivers who deliver from certain London stores, including Charlton, Wembley and Colindale, as well as outlets in Bristol and on the south coast, have seen their hourly pay reduce back to down the previous £10.10 rate. The premium was introduced in July, as part of a limited trial in 35 stores, and was originally set to last until at least Christmas.
According to the supermarket, it introduced the higher rate for drivers in areas experiencing higher levels of job market challenge than average, and as a result of a campaign by the union GMB, which singled out the supermarket as the lowest payer among the big chains.
An Asda spokesperson said: “In July, we began a trial in a small number of stores to pay a discretionary supplement to delivery drivers in order to assess what impact this has on colleague recruitment and retention. This trial was scheduled to end in December, but will finish at the end of this month, because it has not delivered the desired results. We have spoken to all colleagues impacted by this change.”
GMB stated this week that it had written to Asda to ask for the base pay rate of £10.50 per hour to be increased immediately, to help workers cope with the cost-of-living crisis.
Nadine Houghton, national officer at GMB, added: “Without an urgent pay rise, Christmas will be cancelled for thousands of Asda workers. The biggest squeeze on living standards in over a generation is an issue Asda bosses cannot ignore. We are now seeing mid-year pay increases being awarded by other retailers, leaving Asda playing catch up instead of leading the way on staff pay and benefits.”
