GMB union members in Asda have rejected attacks on pay and conditions, photo Sheffield Socialist Party, photo Sheffield Socialist Party

GMB union members in Asda have rejected attacks on pay and conditions, photo Sheffield Socialist Party, photo Sheffield Socialist Party   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

GMB union members at 12 Asda stores around Britain staged protests on 16 September against the imposition of new, rotten terms and conditions known as ‘Contract 6’. This was the third protest in a series of rolling protests organised by the trade union.

Under the new ‘flexible’ working arrangements workers can have their hours changed and be moved to a different department with just weeks’ notice. Workers will also lose all their paid breaks and be forced to work bank holidays.

Asda bosses told workers who have refused to sign the new contract that they’ll lose their sick pay, and are threatening to sack any employee who doesn’t comply by the 2 November deadline.

The key question is how can Contract 6 be stopped? Petitions and the public support of many MPs have so far failed to shift Asda. What will make the retail giant take notice is if the union urgently organises an industrial action ballot and campaigns among the membership for strike action.