Equal Pay/Leigh Day /Tom Hewitt/

[FatFraz]

It would be an external company who would be sent in to do this work on behalf of the company. You don't think our new admin person would do it all do you. 

[fargone]

Go and find me 50 females, and I guarantee that none of them would want to go order picking in a DC.

[Welsh-Hugh]

Watched on news today solicitor from Leigh Day talking about how women in stores are loosing out to men in DC's. Is that sexist or  what? Surely there are men in stores that work with women on same pay.

They want same pay as men in DC's. Hang on a minute there are women in DC's paid exactly the same as men in DC's. Why isn't claim about them as well. It's so one sided it's laughable and a barrister will rip it apart

Also case of careful what you wish for. A lot of store staff or their partners could be on benefits. Any payments as back pay over arrears could be seen by HMRC as benefits were overpaid if suddenly staff get lump sums for arrears . Another minefield. HMRC will want their money back.

[FatFraz]

Yes so if women in Stores get same as men in DC. Men in Stores can then claim same as womens new DC wage. It is a win for both Men and Women in stores. If the company goes up the wall there is always another supermarket round the corner. I wish the the women luck. DC is no more difficult than Stores.

[BarryZola]

Wouldn't it be absolutely awful if they had to give me a massive back-dated payout and raise my wages, then have to give me a big redundancy payout in a few years when the company finally goes to complete s***e and they start closing stores etc 

[sensible_woman]

My sentiments exactly BarryZola

[belfast driver]

Wouldn't it be absolutely awful if they had to give me a massive back-dated payout and raise my wages, then have to give me a big redundancy payout in a few years when the company finally goes to complete s***e and they start closing stores
etc 

If the company goes belly up there won't be any redundancy payments 🐒🐒🐒

[fargone]

The Company hasn't got £4,000,000,000.

[BarryZola]

Wouldn't it be absolutely awful if they had to give me a massive back-dated payout and raise my wages, then have to give me a big redundancy payout in a few years when the company finally goes to complete s***e and they start closing stores
etc 

If the company goes belly up there won't be any redundancy payments 🐒🐒🐒

Yes, but there will be many redundancies along the way, cost cutting, before they finally admit defeat. And, genuinely not sure about this, but with all of the Tesco banks, insurance etc, is it not a bigger company that could keep going as a business without the physical shopping stores, therefore meaning that they still have cash to pay redundancy even if they close the stores, but keep other areas of the business going? Doesn't all that other stuff affect our eligibility for bonuses with the big six pie chart or whatever it is, when it suits them? Genuinely interested what would happen if stores were shuttered but the wider company still had the money to keep trading......

[anfield]

It doesn't matter what we , Tesco think is correct or just , what matters is what a court of law judges to be correct. For a multinational company to be in such a position is laughable .

[OpShunned]

The Company hasn't got £4,000,000,000.

Pity that because they could set it aside to cover the deficit reported in the Guardian on Sunday 

BT alone has a pension deficit of £9.1bn, Shell £6.9bn, BP £6.7bn and Tesco and BAE Systems have £6.6bn each. The top five biggest company pension deficits could wipe out those assets in one fell swoop, and at least three other FTSE 100 firms have deficits over £2bn.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2018/02/04/pension-basket-cases-may-join-carillion/


Anyway, you have plenty of time to prepare for your Doomsday scenario.. The Asda case isn't back in court until October so it'll be ages before Tesco get dragged into it. If Asda (and sainsbury) win you can decide what to do from there 

Aldi and lidl peeing themselves laughing again. Their staff already earning more than ours despite Tesco having to award 10% pay rises, that's how embarrassing the store wage is for the boots on the ground.

When Booker is synergised with Tesco Distribution, DC workforces will be put into a whirlpool and shot out the other end and into oblivion.

[BarryZola]

The more I think about it, the more I do think that the grievance does have some validity, in the sense that payment for stores and distribution should be the same. Okay, I fully accept that in the majority of cases that the work at DC's is heavier more manual work.

However, in stores there are many people on many departments who have to perform hard physical work every day/night. What about the people on fruit and veg who spend all day lifting 5 cases off a dolly just to get at one case for a customer/picker, then have to put all of the others back on, many times a day, in-between just generally working the heavy trays on the department. The people who have to sort out the pallets of BWS etc? Believe it or not, bread can be very physical and fast paced too in a busy store. Basically most departments have become more demanding as Tesco has axed more staff. This was Tesco's choice, not the staff's.

How about generally being at the mercy of customers, some of who feel that they can treat you as a lower class of person because you work in a supermarket. Basically, you don't have to just be told what to do by your boss, but you're on call from customers too, even though we all know that we're as understaffed as ever and so are busy enough already. We have less and less time to get the job done in stores as staff are dwindling, but we're expected to deliver excellent customer service too. This can be quite an art to deliver, especially during busy periods.

Then you have the night staff who have to deal with drunkards running amok in stores and are more likely to get away with it as security is not as it once was. You're safer in a distribution centre when it comes to security. Do you get tramps sleeping in your toilets in distribution centres? How many of you in DC's get threatened or risk being attacked by people not being served alcohol for being drunk on your nightshift?

How hard is it to park outside your work at DC's? It can be a right pain in the a**e to even get your car parked even before you start your shift in stores.

How multi-skilled do you have to be for your wage in DC's? Do you have to not only be able to perform your own job to an acceptable standard, but also have to be trained and ready to jump on a checkout, push a dotcom shopping trolley around and have your time etc monitored via computer whilst doing it, go and help unload a lorry because the staff aren't available on back door, jump on the security podium for an hour to cover a break. What about the staff who do the community stuff and provide a service to local schools and stuff taking children around the store along with their teachers showing them how the store operates and teaching them about different foods etc.

It's also easy to say how easy it is to sit on a checkout talking to customers, but ask yourself this? Would you like to be stuck on a checkout making conversation all day long? I personally would hate that and prefer more manual work. But whatever you do in store, you're always expected to do your duties on your department, as well as helping others out when needed, and also being at the mercy of customers needs/complaints.

Maybe the pay ratio does need looking at in some way. Obviously the DC's wouldn't want to lose pay, so maybe there's only one way to go. Stores wages go up.

[Took the money]

So under that assumption should we not pay the nurses the same pay as the brain surgeon. Surely it depends on the job you do as to how much you get an hour. I've worked both distribution and store and believe me I wouldn't go back to the warehouse

[BarryZola]

So under that assumption should we not pay the nurses the same pay as the brain surgeon. Surely it depends on the job you do as to how much you get an hour. I've worked both distribution and store and believe me I wouldn't go back to the warehouse

No, because it would be impossible for the nurse to do the job of the brain surgeon adequately. It obviously takes years of expensive and extensive intricate training to become a brain surgeon. You do an injustice to your intended point when you make poor comparisons.

[Welsh-Hugh]

How multi-skilled do you have to be for your wage in DC's? Do you have to not only be able to perform your own job to an acceptable standard, but also have to be trained and ready to jump on a checkout, push a dotcom shopping trolley around and have your time etc monitored via computer whilst doing it, go and help unload a lorry because the staff aren't available on back door, jump on the security podium for an hour to cover a break. What about the staff who do the community stuff and provide a service to local schools and stuff taking children around the store along with their teachers showing them how the store operates and teaching them about different foods etc.

Sorry I didn't realize how hard you had it in stores, showing children around store, community work, sat on checkouts chatting, go on security desk and watch a camera screen.
I've been a fool, picking 24 pallets of spuds and mellons, working in freezers, loading trailers safely to comply with road transport regulation, and 24/7 monitoring. If you do get your pay rise I will be first in line for a store transfer. Incidentally my DC has 50 warehouse vacancies, if your that hard done by go on Tesco careers website, look for vacancies and transfer to Dc. Stop whinging and do it.

[FatFraz]

The more I think about it, the more I do think that the grievance does have some validity, in the sense that payment for stores and distribution should be the same. Okay, I fully accept that in the majority of cases that the work at DC's is heavier more manual work.

However, in stores there are many people on many departments who have to perform hard physical work every day/night. What about the people on fruit and veg who spend all day lifting 5 cases off a dolly just to get at one case for a customer/picker, then have to put all of the others back on, many times a day, in-between just generally working the heavy trays on the department. The people who have to sort out the pallets of BWS etc? Believe it or not, bread can be very physical and fast paced too in a busy store. Basically most departments have become more demanding as Tesco has axed more staff. This was Tesco's choice, not the staff's.

How about generally being at the mercy of customers, some of who feel that they can treat you as a lower class of person because you work in a supermarket. Basically, you don't have to just be told what to do by your boss, but you're on call from customers too, even though we all know that we're as understaffed as ever and so are busy enough already. We have less and less time to get the job done in stores as staff are dwindling, but we're expected to deliver excellent customer service too. This can be quite an art to deliver, especially during busy periods.

Then you have the night staff who have to deal with drunkards running amok in stores and are more likely to get away with it as security is not as it once was. You're safer in a distribution centre when it comes to security. Do you get tramps sleeping in your toilets in distribution centres? How many of you in DC's get threatened or risk being attacked by people not being served alcohol for being drunk on your nightshift?

How hard is it to park outside your work at DC's? It can be a right pain in the a**e to even get your car parked even before you start your shift in stores.

How multi-skilled do you have to be for your wage in DC's? Do you have to not only be able to perform your own job to an acceptable standard, but also have to be trained and ready to jump on a checkout, push a dotcom shopping trolley around and have your time etc monitored via computer whilst doing it, go and help unload a lorry because the staff aren't available on back door, jump on the security podium for an hour to cover a break. What about the staff who do the community stuff and provide a service to local schools and stuff taking children around the store along with their teachers showing them how the store operates and teaching them about different foods etc.

It's also easy to say how easy it is to sit on a checkout talking to customers, but ask yourself this? Would you like to be stuck on a checkout making conversation all day long? I personally would hate that and prefer more manual work. But whatever you do in store, you're always expected to do your duties on your department, as well as helping others out when needed, and also being at the mercy of customers needs/complaints.

Maybe the pay ratio does need looking at in some way. Obviously the DC's wouldn't want to lose pay, so maybe there's only one way to go. Stores wages go up.

To all of this

[SAMCRO]

A pay review for customer assistants in stores has been long overdue regardless of what was in the news today. There are thousands of GAs who are multi-skilled tenfold in comparison to a lot of other GAs. How a GA who is experienced in stock control, merchandising, PI, Deli counter, checkouts etc is paid the same hourly rate as someone who is simply a checkout operator or trolley collector is a shambles.

Experience amounts to naff all now, but that's for another thread.

[were doomed]

 

[fargone]

Slaves Fighting Slaves.

[FatFraz]

"slaves vs slaves" Nothing like some in fighting 

[notsofunny]

How multi-skilled do you have to be for your wage in DC's? Do you have to not only be able to perform your own job to an acceptable standard, but also have to be trained and ready to jump on a checkout, push a dotcom shopping trolley around and have your time etc monitored via computer whilst doing it, go and help unload a lorry because the staff aren't available on back door, jump on the security podium for an hour to cover a break. What about the staff who do the community stuff and provide a service to local schools and stuff taking children around the store along with their teachers showing them how the store operates and teaching them about different foods etc.

Why is it that those that seem to want a pay off have spent all this time working in store rather than moveing to w/house for better pay ? They can still do it if they want but wont  or is it a case that they want something for nothing ?  I still remember that working in a w/house was looked down on and still is by some ,
Having seen some in store I wonder how they could lift a case , since they find it hard just to walk with a trolley


Sorry I didn't realize how hard you had it in stores, showing children around store, community work, sat on checkouts chatting, go on security desk and watch a camera screen.
I've been a fool, picking 24 pallets of spuds and mellons, working in freezers, loading trailers safely to comply with road transport regulation, and 24/7 monitoring. If you do get your pay rise I will be first in line for a store transfer. Incidentally my DC has 50 warehouse vacancies, if your that hard done by go on Tesco careers website, look for vacancies and transfer to Dc. Stop whinging and do it.

[Nomad]

BarryZola, nice piece.  Lets face it folks there are those who would not last a day in a DC but the inverse is also true, those who would have had enough in a store after a day.

[nightslave101]

I can see this going down like a lead balloon. As someone has said, any barrister worth their salt will likely rip it apart. It's sexist for one.

You have women working alongside men in distribution on the same hourly rate. You have women working alongside men in stores, again on the same hourly rate. How in anyone's world can you award just the women working at stores back pay, what about all the men on the lower rated compared to the men at distribution?

If they can prove the jobs are the same then surely everyone should be due some sort of back pay.

[OpShunned]

Now that this issue has made the national news etc you can bet that David Potts, CEO of Morrisons, formerly 38 years at Tesco, will be fearing his minnions contacting Leigh Day. You never know, they may be prompted.

[OpShunned]

I can see this going down like a lead balloon. As someone has said, any barrister worth their salt will likely rip it apart. It's sexist for one.

You have women working alongside men in distribution on the same hourly rate. You have women working alongside men in stores, again on the same hourly rate. How in anyone's world can you award just the women working at stores back pay, what about all the men on the lower rated compared to the men at distribution?

If they can prove the jobs are the same then surely everyone should be due some sort of back pay.

You need to scroll back..It's not sexist and yes men can piggy back the claim should the female half of the equation prevail. If Asda and Sainsbury win their case, which is next heard in October the writing will be on the wall for Drastic and the robber-barons.

At one time women weren't considered worthy of the Vote.

Women drive artcic lorries, fix water leaks, have babies, work as electricians, work alongside male nurses. They've come along way despite misogynistic views