{"id":15136,"date":"2018-05-01T16:53:26","date_gmt":"2018-05-01T15:53:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=15136"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:58:46","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:58:46","slug":"sainsburys-boss-caught-on-camera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=15136","title":{"rendered":"‘Unguarded moment’?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Just hours after the merger between Sainsbury\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and Asda<\/a> was announced, \u00c2\u00a0a venture that could very well slash jobs and\u00c2\u00a0shut\u00c2\u00a0stores, \u00c2\u00a0Sainbsury\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s chief executive Mike Coupe had only one thing in mind \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the windfall of cash the merger will bring him.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Just before Coupe was due to go live on an interview with ITV News, he was caught on camera singing the tune \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re in the money\u00e2\u20ac\u0165, a song from the Broadway musical 42nd<\/sup> Street.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe’re in the money, the sky is sunny, let’s lend it, spend it, send it rolling along,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Coupe sang as he sat waiting to be interviewed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As a shareholder of Sainsbury\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, Coupe is indeed set to cash in \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Sainsbury\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s shares soared by 15 per cent after the announcement of the merger yesterday (April 30).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Coupe currently earns an annual salary of nearly \u00c2\u01411m and owns 1.2m in Sainsbury\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s shares. The Mirror reported<\/a><\/em> that the rise in value of the shares following the merger boosted Coupe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s portfolio value by more than half a million pounds, from \u00c2\u01413.18m to \u00c2\u01413.81m.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Coupe called his singing an \u00e2\u20ac\u0098unguarded moment\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 as he apologised and said the song \u00e2\u20ac\u201c incidentally often associated with greed or a sudden windfall<\/a> \u00e2\u20ac\u201c was \u00e2\u20ac\u015ban unfortunate choice\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But Unite general secretary Len McCluskey tweeted that \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis \u00e2\u20ac\u0098unguarded moment\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 by Sainsbury\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s CEO won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be taken well by the thousands of Unite, GMB and Usdaw members at ASDA\/Sainsbury\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s worrying about their jobs.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Urgent question<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

He added that Labour\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey was \u00e2\u20ac\u015bright to call for stronger protections for all impacted by mergers\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a call she made during an urgent question she raised in Parliament yesterday<\/a> (April 30).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Long-Bailey highlighted that the scope for\u00c2\u00a0government\u00c2\u00a0to intervene in mergers is far too weak.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

She said that \u00e2\u20ac\u015bwith a deal that could radically alter the whole grocery sector from farm to factory to supermarket shelf\u00e2\u20ac\u0165, the government should use its powers to broaden the scope used in the public interest test to intervene in mergers and takeovers \u00e2\u20ac\u015bof economic and national significance.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

She noted that a thorough investigation by the Competition Markets Authority (CMA) was \u00e2\u20ac\u015bimperative\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 while she called for assurances that the CMA halt the merger during its investigation.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Long-Bailey pointed to the fact that the merger will create a massive supermarket duopoly, with Sainsbury\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\/Asda and Tesco dominating with a 60 per cent market share of the sector. This, she said, would hit \u00e2\u20ac\u015bsuppliers, farmers and manufacturers, whose prices and terms will be driven down, pushing many to the edge of collapse.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The market dominance would also, she said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015brisk consumer choice and provide less incentive\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 for supermarkets to offer good prices to shoppers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jobs assurances<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Labour MPs called for cast-iron assurances on jobs and terms and conditions in the merger.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bSupermarkets are powerful — as employers and along the supply chain,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Labour MP Jack Dromey. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey must not be allowed to abuse that power.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Labour MP Justin Madders added that \u00e2\u20ac\u015bin takeovers and mergers of this nature, as sure as night follows day, it is the workers who end up paying through the efficiency savings that have been set up.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

McCluskey, too, said that Unite was \u00e2\u20ac\u015bsceptical about public assurances that there will be no job losses or store closures as a result of the merger between Sainsbury\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and Asda.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBoth supermarket giants have earmarked \u00c2\u0141500m in synergies from the merger, which from the bitter experience of our members means job losses at some point down the line,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt is not just store workers who could be under threat from a drive to achieve \u00e2\u20ac\u0098synergies\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, but the thousands who work in distribution centres and logistics across the UK,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 McCluskey added.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He noted that he will be meeting with Coupe to seek assurances \u00e2\u20ac\u015bthat public promises over jobs and stores will be backed up with legally binding guarantees on job security for all workers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe would also urge the House of Commons Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee to use its position to consider the merger and its impact on the sector and the jobs it sustains.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Just hours after the merger between Sainsbury\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and Asda was announced, \u00c2\u00a0a venture that could very well slash jobs and\u00c2\u00a0shut\u00c2\u00a0stores, \u00c2\u00a0Sainbsury\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s chief executive Mike Coupe had only one thing in mind \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the windfall of cash the merger will bring him.   Just before Coupe was due to go live on an interview with ITV […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1915,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[870,505,690],"wps_subtitle":"Smug Sainsbury\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s boss caught on camera","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15136"}],"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=15136"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15136\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26225,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15136\/revisions\/26225"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}