Staff at a Brighton branch of Asda have gone on strike and have issued a plea to customers not to cross their picket line in Crowhurst Road, Hollingbury.
The strike, which follows a ballot of members of the GMB union, started at 8pm last night (Friday 24 May) and ends at 3pm today.
The workers want the company’s owners to ensure enough staff are employed at the branch so that they can all do their jobs safely.
They are furious over a new computer programme that has left some of them underpaid or not paid at all.
And a leaflet handed to customers said that the workplace culture had left some staff feeling bullied as too few staff tried to keep things going.
The staff shortages have meant that fresh food has arrived at the Hollingbury branch but has never made it on to the shelves.
On one day alone, it was estimated that the stock that was thrown away was worth about £20,000 – almost enough to pay someone to have done the job for the whole year.
The store has also lost much more than expected to shoplifting in part because there are too few staff on duty.
The company did, though, splash out on security staff, with at least a dozen visible in the car park and at other entrances and exits last night.
A similar number are expected to be deployed today, with a demonstration planned for between 12 noon and 1pm today outside the store.
The picket line is in Crowhurst, off the grounds, and those on strike have been told that they cannot go into the shop – even to use the toilet.
The Labour MP for Brighton Kemptown Lloyd Russell-Moyle went along to show his support for those on the picket line last night.
Staff told him that the stores were better run and a better place to work before the previous owner Walmart sold them to brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa and TDR Capital in 2021.
They said that the new owners were cutting costs by employing fewer staff for fewer hours but that this had made it harder to ensure the shelves were always properly stocked.
One said that staff were trying to do their best but, for example, some of the specialist counters were not always staffed so missed out on trade at busy times.
And changes to drivers’ pay had affected the number of staff willing to work for Asda over better-paying rivals, hitting the availability and reliability of home deliveries.
One said: “The key issues for members at the Hollingbury store focus specifically on the fact that we haven’t got enough colleagues to do the job and we deserve fair pay for the work we do.
“(This) view (is) influenced by the long-running equal pay claim against Asda being conducted by Leigh Day solicitors on behalf on Asda colleagues.”
Mr Russell-Moyle said that it was a worrying sign that Walmart was felt to be a better employer than the current owners.
And he praised for staff for wanting to do their jobs properly and wanting to give customers what they came for while the owners failed to get these basics right.
There is a fear among some that the current owners have loaded Asda with debt so that it was at risk of going spectacularly bust like BHS (British Home Stores) or Debenhams.
About 200 to 300 staff work at the Hollingbury branch, many of them as part-time or seasonal workers, although one said that the number should be about 400.
Staff had quit and not been replaced and another store worker said that the new owners, in their efforts to save money, were cutting off their nose to spite their face.
Since the strike ballot was mooted, membership of the GMB had doubled, with about half of the staff now belonging to the union.
The leaflet handed out by striking staff said: “All we are asking for is
- the correct hours to do our job properly
- to be paid for the hours we have worked and on time
- improvements in health and safety standards
- for Asda to negotiate properly with our trade union on these issues
- for Asda to negotiate a settlement for our equal pay claim
“We are asking you not to cross our picket line and to shop somewhere else today.”
Asda said: “While we are disappointed that the GMB has taken this course of action, we can reassure customers that we have processes in place to minimise any disruption as a result of industrial action at the Brighton Hollingbury store.
“The GMB represents a small minority of colleagues at this store and not all of these voted for industrial action. Furthermore, the GMB’s recent industrial action ballot at the Brighton Marina store was unsuccessful.
“Despite repeated requests, we are yet to receive evidence of all of the claims raised by the GMB. However, we will continue to engage with their representatives with the aim of reaching an amicable solution for all parties.”
Asdas is in trouble really- too much debt to service. If interest rates do not come down soon I think it will become an unviable business. Strikes will only speed up the process.
It’s quite noticeable. ASDA closed down several pharmacies in their other stores to cut costs, OTC sales are never profitable, and the healthcare section isn’t attributed to the pharmacy, weirdly. Pharmacists are expensive too. Especially, if you’re using locums on the weekends. You also see self-checkout understaffed constantly, the usual design is 6:1, but it is common to see this more aligned to 10:1 or higher.
I do wonder what a future without ASDA at the Marina would look like? I guess another supermarket would jump in at a prime space like that?
I started using that store when it first opened, but now only go there occasionally, and have noticed a drop-off in stock, frequent changes of position of items, empty shelves and a general untidy appearance with cages and boxes left in the aisles. There are also a lot fewer employees around with the self-service tills growing in number. Last time I went there my trolley’s braking system activated as I left the store and a security guard demanded my receipt and de-activated the brake with some sort of scanner. He didn’t check the receipt against my bags and didn’t say anything after looking at the receipt, just handed it back to me and gestured that I could leave. I presume he may have wanted to do further checks if I had used a self-service till, but I had gone through one of the two staffed tills as I don’t see why I should do everything myself. I may not bother going back if that’s going to be the level of customer service now.
Have you met the larger lad with thin receding, and greasy hair, who tends to wear an ASDA shirt that’s too small for him, and a miserable look on his face pretty much all the time? He is the bag guardian, guardian of the carrier bags. I asked if I could have one of the carrier bags once, because they always carry them around, which I’m sure is their new store policy. Of course, I couldn’t be trusted to scan it myself, he had to do it with a grunt. Then he stormed off for inconveniencing him, before I had to call him back because I also needed an energy drink verified, which is also a store policy. I got ignored twice. Very strange man.
The sticky paws of the GMB at work again. How long before there is an investigation into bullying like the bin persons recently enjoyed. Welcome back to the 70’s kids!
What are you saying Fark? This comment makes no sense?
I think he is trying to imply that the union is acting aggressively or obstructively. The comparison to the 1970s invokes a time in the UK when industrial action and union power were particularly prominent and sometimes associated with conflict and strikes. He likely alludes to Cityclean’s recent situation where allegations of bullying were made.
I think, for once, the GMB are doing what they are there for. In my opinion this instance the action is justified, though I agree that it usually isn’t the case with the GMB, who do appear to generally be a small-mentality throwback outfit.
2021 when Walmart sold? That ties up with when the store became a shambles with poor stock levels, broken self-weighing and wilted and rotting herbs, and empty fresh vegetable and fruit counters. That’s around when the fresh fish and butcher counters went. It all adds up.
I go to Tesco now because this place is the worst Asda I’ve ever encountered, and now the Burgh Hill store on the A217 is becoming the same. I hadn’t realised it was due to the company overall – I thought it was due to the store management.
I hope the staff can get better jobs elsewhere and we can allow this Asda to close. I don’t waste my time going there.
If only it became a Tesco.