Tesco petition

Tesco: every little cut helps

Tesco: every little cut helps   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

A petition which currently has over 78,000 signatures is demanding a reversal of the cuts to pay and premiums implemented by Tesco in response to the government’s new living wage being introduced. The petition called ‘Living Wage Should Not Mean Pay Cuts For Loyal Tesco Workers’ was started by a shop floor worker of 14 years in response to the loss of hundreds of pounds of pay that the changes will mean, as reported in the Socialist. This comes at the same time as Tesco CEO Dave Lewis was paid £4.6 million in the last year. One of the signatories, Lee Corke from Liverpool, commented on the petition, rightly pointing out the role (or lack of it) of shop workers’ union Usdaw: “John Hannett our Usdaw leader believes in ‘keeping Sunday special’. Explain to me how does this tally with the Sunday premium cut that has been accepted by the same union that he leads. Therefore, making Sunday much less special for many Tesco Usdaw members. I am not affected by the cuts however I am disgusted at the way the long-serving staff of Tesco are being treated by Tesco and Usdaw.”

HCA strike

Unite members at the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) took strike action on 19 May for fair pay and proper pay negotiations. Two more strike days are proposed on 15 and 16 June so the strikers are therefore urgently appealing for donations to their strike fund to assist those on strike and minimise hardship. You can contribute as follows:

  • By cheque made out to “Unite Housing Workers Branch LE111”, sent to PO Box 66701, London E11 9FB.
  • By BACS to account name Unite Housing Workers LE/1111 Branch, account number 20040626, sort code 60-83-01