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The workers at the Asda store have won the latest stage in their fight for equal pay in a ruling that could lead to a claim for compensation of £ 500 million.
The Supreme Court upheld a 2016 labor court decision that supermarket retail staff, who are mostly women, can compare their work to that of warehouse distribution centers.
Around 35,000 store workers say they should be paid the same as predominantly male staff working in the chain’s warehouses, and that they receive a higher wage of £ 1.50 to £ 3 an hour more than workers Of the stores.
Wendy Arundale, who worked for Asda for 32 years, said: “I am delighted that the workers at the plant are one step closer to achieving equal pay.
“I loved my job, but knowing that male colleagues who worked in the distribution centers were paid more left a bitter taste in my mouth.”
The GMB union, which is backing the case, called the Supreme Court ruling a “massive victory.”
Susan Harris, GMB Chief Legal Officer, said: “Asda has wasted money on attorney bills pursuing a lost cause, losing appeal after appeal, while tens of thousands of retail workers remain unpaid out of pocket.
“We are now asking Asda to sit down with us to work out the late payment due to our members.”
The victory is the first major stage in the long legal battle that has implications for workers in all large supermarkets. The supreme court upheld the 2016 labor court ruling, which was also previously confirmed by the appeals court in 2019.
The outcome of the landmark case, the largest equal pay claim in the UK private sector, will have repercussions for some 8,000 workers in other supermarkets, including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Co-op and Morrisons, who are also involved in equality disputes. salary with their employers.
The law firm Leigh Day, which represents the workers at the Asda store, has said that if the five supermarkets lose the cases brought by the workers, they could face back pay claims totaling £ 8 billion.
The second stage of the process will determine if the storage and distribution roles are “equal value”. This could potentially be followed by a third stage that would consider whether factors other than gender determine why roles should not be paid equally.
Pay inequality has been a major battlefield in the public sector, with cleaning women and gazebos taking legal action over claims that paid them less than men who worked as garbage collectors or street cleaners.
The Asda case, which in reference to the Ford machinists’ strike of the 1960s has been dubbed “Made in Dagenham for the 21st Century,” was the first to be brought against a private employer.
An Asda spokesperson said: “This ruling relates to a stage in a complex case that is likely to take several years to reach a conclusion. We defend these claims because the salary in our stores and distribution centers is the same for colleagues doing the same jobs regardless of gender. Retail and distribution are very different sectors with their own skill sets and pay rates. Asda has always paid its colleagues the market rate in these sectors and we continue to trust our case. “
The scale of any payment is likely to have implications for the £ 6.5bn takeover of the group by billionaire brothers Issa, which is awaiting approval from competition regulators. Asda’s current owner, Walmart, who will retain a minority stake in Asda after the acquisition, is reported to have agreed to pay the bill for any compensation.
