Asda faces strike threat at three more supermarkets as GMB dispute continues

Almost 400 staff at the supermarket’s stores in Wisbech, Brighton Hollingbury and Brighton Marina are set to vote on whether to take industrial action after the first strike at an Asda supermarket took place earlier this month.

Nearly 100 employees at Asda’s Gosport store went on a 48-hour strike to protest against a “toxic” working environment, the union said.

However, Asda strongly disputed this claim and said only 46 colleagues voted for industrial action out of which only 24 actually went on strike. 

GMB national officer Nadine Houghton said: “Asda workers are voting on strike action because they want to see a better, thriving company. Meanwhile, the Issa Brothers and TDR Capital continue the asset stripping of Asda at pace.

“An estimated 8 million hours have been cut from the shop floor in the past two years alone, reducing staff costs by up to tens of millions of pounds.

“GMB members want to know why they are being forced to do more work with fewer colleagues and worsening health and safety standards, while Moshin Issa spends millions on mansions and private jets. 

”These cuts are not something that Asda workers agreed to nor had any say in. That is why they are calling for proper rights for Asda’s largest trade union, GMB, to represent them.”

An Asda spokesperson said: “We value feedback from our colleagues and have established processes in place for them to address any concerns.

“We’ve requested specific details from the GMB regarding the alleged issues in our Wisbech and Brighton stores, but have yet to receive this information. We’re also waiting for them to share details of the alleged issues they have found in the Gosport store too.

“While any potential disruption is unwelcome, we are confident this can be managed and these stores will remain open as normal for our customers. This was demonstrated recently in Gosport where fewer than 30 colleagues participated in industrial action.”