A recent poll, published in the GMB news circular, revealed the shocking abuse many staff working for Asda are receiving.
In a poll of 1000 staff, it was revealed that 33% have been threatened or attacked, spat at, or received death threats from enraged customers.
Delivery drivers have been chased by customers in cars, and produce such as joints of meat and melons have been thrown at store staff.
I work as a porter in a large store. I collect trolleys, pick litter, and empty the litter bins around the car park. I am regularly shouted at, and have twice been poked with umbrellas.
Asda colleagues, who have worked for the company for many years, all say the same thing: “It used to be a good place to work and everyone felt valued.” So what has changed?
Dodgy deals
The US-based shopping multinational Walmart sold Asda in February 2021 to TDR Capital (an international private equity company) and the Issa brothers.
The Issas are renowned for ‘leveraged buyouts’ of companies. This means they borrow money to purchase companies on the money markets, and then use these companies to take out massive loans – essentially using them like a free ATM.
This is very similar to what the Australian firm Macquarie Group did to Thames Water: take control of a company; saddle it with enormous debt; give out handsome dividends and bonuses to the shareholders and directors; and then dump your shares when you’re finished.
When the Issas and TDR Capital bought Asda in 2021 it was valued at £6.8 billion.
This debt-fueled deal saw the Issas put down £100 million of their money, along with another £100 million from TDR Capital. The rest was met by loans from the international money markets, along with corporate bond sales.
The purchasers all thought that buying Asda would provide a licence to print stacks of money. But flatlining sales and rising interest rates mean that the debt has had to be temporarily postponed.
Now, however, the supermarket is saddled with £4.2 billion in debt. In 2022, Asda’s interest bill was £300 million. This year, it’s expected to be over £400 million. By comparison, in 2021 it was only £90 million.
These dodgy (but perfectly legal) dealings are the reason Asda is struggling. While the fat-cats reap the rewards, it’s shopfloor workers who pay the heavy price.
Falling apart
The store I work in has a rundown feel. Shelves are restocked less often, and items are not always available for customers.
The wait time for necessary infrastructure repairs can be weeks. Only this morning, and not for the first time, most of the drinks in the drinks machine for staff were not available.
The company is making huge cutbacks to meet its interest repayments. The GMB trade union believes that 8 million staff hours have been cut.
There is no personnel / HR department at the large store I work at. Staff who leave are not replaced, and anyone who speaks out is then bullied by the on-site management / supervisors.
The result is a demoralised workforce. Management is more concerned that you obey the corporate uniform code than about listening to our grievances or ensuring our health and safety.
Some staff are frightened and some are angry. Asda employs 150,000 people across the UK. Most of them are poorly paid and part-time shift workers, whose hours and shifts can be changed at a whim. Many have to work at more than one job to make ends meet.
Fewer staff are expected to work harder. At busy times, the store I work in becomes overrun with frustrated customers. This has been magnified by the introduction of a new computer system, which in reality is a cost-cutting exercise, and does not work properly.
The customer discount card was unusable for a week or so. This caused huge anger amongst customers.
Staff wages are often wrong. Some staff are underpaid, while others are overpaid. Unsurprisingly, aggressive tactics are being used to reclaim overpaid wages, whilst underpaid staff are left in limbo.
Action
Strikes have recently taken place at stores in the south of England, such as Brighton, Gosport, Wisbech, and Lowestoft. More ballots for strike action, concentrated again in the south of England, are being considered at other stores.
What has been conspicuous at my store is the lack of any trade union presence. Despite fine words on notice boards from the two main unions, the GMB and USDAW, I have never seen or heard of any union activity.
Nor do my union, the GMB, return my phone calls. Why is this the case?
What we need is a proper national union-led campaign to address our grievances and coordinate action.
The supermarket industry in the UK collectively employs around one million workers – everyone from lorry drivers, to technicians, to shop assistants. Imagine the strength that these workers would have if they were mobilised for action!
This sector is absolutely vital to our everyday lives, ensuring the distribution of food and other essentials to millions of households. And yet, just like water and energy, it has become a plaything for international financial speculators.
The big supermarkets must be nationalised under democratic workers’ control. These are the kinds of bold demands the movement should be fighting for.
