{"id":15114,"date":"2018-04-30T16:47:30","date_gmt":"2018-04-30T15:47:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=15114"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:58:46","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:58:46","slug":"sainsburs-asda-merger-job-assurances","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=15114","title":{"rendered":"‘Treat us with respect’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Following a surprise merger between supermarket giants Sainsbury\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and Asda agreed today (April 30), Unite is calling for urgent assurances over jobs.<\/p>\n

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Combined, the two retailers employ 360,000 people in the UK. The retailers have said that they will maintain the same branding and have pledged to cut prices on everyday products by 10 per cent. Walmart \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the owners of Asda \u00e2\u20ac\u201c will get \u00c2\u01413bn in cash from selling its UK stores to Sainsbury’s and will still maintain a 42 per cent stake in the business. Anticipated annual sales for the new merger will be \u00c2\u014150bn.<\/p>\n

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Despite Sainsburys chief executive Mike Coupe saying he was \u00e2\u20ac\u015b100 per cent confident\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 stores would not close as a result of the merger, analysts have said otherwise.<\/p>\n

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The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) confirmed it would likely be investigating the merger<\/a> to determine if the deal would reduce competition and choice for shoppers. The CMA could potentially force the new merged retail giant to sell off Sainsbury’s or Asda stores when they are located too close to one another.<\/p>\n

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Investment research firm Edison said the CMA \u00e2\u20ac\u015boften uses a local test of proximity, that is 1 mile or 5 minutes\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 drive time\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 and that around \u00e2\u20ac\u015b70 of Asda\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 630-odd stores are located within a mile of one of Sainsbury 1400 outlets.”<\/p>\n

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Head of retail at Gordon\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Law Firm Andy Brian also highlighted that store closures would likely be inevitable if the merger went through.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOne thing is clear; despite what is being said officially, stores would have to close,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he told the Guardian<\/em>. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThat\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not necessarily a bad thing for the brands, although it would of course be a bad thing for those store employees.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Labour urgent question<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The Labour Party today (April 30) put forward an urgent question to discuss the potential for job losses and the impact on consumer choice following news of the merger.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Labour\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey said that there were \u00e2\u20ac\u015brisks to jobs by potential reorganisation and store closures and risks to the wider grocery industry as a Tesco\/Sainsbury\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s-Asda duopoly emerges with unrivalled power to dominate, dictating choice and prices for consumers which in time may prove detrimental.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Bailey also highlighted the \u00e2\u20ac\u015bunrivalled power\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 of a Sainsbury\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s-Asda merger which she said would pose \u00e2\u20ac\u015bimmense risk to suppliers with unprecedented bargaining power to drive suppliers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 prices and payment terms down which could cause instability and damage to the food and grocery manufacturing industry.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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The impact on suppliers was also highlighted today by the Federation of Small Businesses national chairman Mike Cherry.<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bA merger of this size will concentrate a lot of power in the hands of one giant company, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s important that power isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t misused to coerce small suppliers into accepting unfair contracts and poor payment terms,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

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He called for assurances \u00e2\u20ac\u015bthat cost savings won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be achieved simply by milking their small suppliers for all they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re worth.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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If the merger is approved by the CMA \u00e2\u20ac\u201c its investigation could take up to four months to complete \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the new retail giant will be the largest UK supermarket in history, dominating with a market share in excess of 30 per cent.<\/p>\n

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Uncertainty<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The news will add yet more uncertainty for Sainsbury\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s workers, 12,000 of whom Unite represents, whose terms and conditions were already under threat. Last month, the retailer said it would be giving shop staff a pay rise to \u00c2\u01419.20 an hour \u00e2\u20ac\u201c but would slash Sunday premium pay, paid breaks and other perks that Unite has said would totally nullify the pay rise. They are also being asked to accept a pay freeze until 2020.<\/p>\n

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Many would be left worse off under the deal, since many Sainsbury\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s workers depend on working tax credits and in-work benefits which could be taken away after the pay rise.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Sainsbury\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s announced a management shake-up that would slash certain roles and could lead to thousands of redundancies \u00e2\u20ac\u201c workers have been effectively told to sign up to new, lower-paying roles or be sacked in September.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In light of the new merger and the insecurity it has brought to thousands of Sainsbury\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s workers, Unite is calling for the retailer to halt its \u00e2\u20ac\u0098robbing Peter to pay Paul\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 pay deal and to withdraw the \u00e2\u20ac\u0098sign or be sacked\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 contracts.<\/p>\n

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Unite acting national officer for food and drink Joe Clarke slammed the way workers found out about today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s merger \u00e2\u20ac\u201c through media speculation on Saturday morning and not through their managers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bSainsbury\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s workers are in a state of shock at the prospect of a merger with Asda,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bLong serving store staff were already facing the imposition of a \u00e2\u20ac\u0098sack or sign\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 contract, the loss of Sunday premium pay and paid breaks, in addition to no increase in salary until 2020.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey along with their colleagues in warehousing and logistics now face the uncertainty of a proposed merger, the threat of more job losses and the possibility of store closures,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bLoyal workers are being put through the mill by Sainsbury\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bosses\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 and should not have to face yet more uncertainty,” Clarke noted. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bSainsbury\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s needs to offer job guarantees and withdraw its \u00e2\u20ac\u0098sign or be sacked\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 contracts and stop \u00e2\u20ac\u0098robbing Peter to pay Paul\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 to fund a pay deal as a matter of urgency.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe greatest asset that Sainsbury\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s has is its staff. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time the supermarket giant started treating them with the respect they deserve.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Stay tuned on UNITElive as this story develops.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Following a surprise merger between supermarket giants Sainsbury\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and Asda agreed today (April 30), Unite is calling for urgent assurances over jobs.   Combined, the two retailers employ 360,000 people in the UK. The retailers have said that they will maintain the same branding and have pledged to cut prices on everyday products by 10 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":63,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[126,870,505],"wps_subtitle":"Unite demands assurances after Sainsbury\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and Asda merger announced","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15114"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15114"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15114\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26231,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15114\/revisions\/26231"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/63"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}