Union officers have called a meeting with Asda managers in Leeds today to discuss pay issues.
GMB representatives have expressed concern that 40,000 store staff, out of a total of 130,000, will not be paid a bonus for 2005, despite the supermarket giant making £650m in profit over the year.
The union will advise Asda of a national consultative ballot with members over performance bonuses.
Jude Brimble, GMB officer for Asda, said: “Pay and condition arrangements need to be fair. The way arrangements are arrived at also need to be fair.
“Asda workers have no control over whether the company hits it’s overall profit target or whether this remote target is realistic. Unless they have a shop steward, they have no input into achieving store or depot targets either.”
A spokeswoman from Asda said: “2005 was a hard year but we’re immensely proud that, in spite of the tough trading environment, more than 100 of our stores have hit their bonus targets – so over 40,000 of our colleagues working in stores will be taking home a performance-related bonus this year.”
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Earlier this week, Asda’s parent company Wal-Mart announced that it is planning to recruit a full-time director of global ethics, to ensure the retailer’s code of conduct is applied to all its global stores.
