Sainsbury's criticised by MPs and staff over new 'dogsbody' contracts
The IndependentFor free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Sainsbury’s says it is boosting pay for more than 120,000 employees, raising hourly rates from £8 to £9.20, under new contracts but it has come under fire from MPs and staff who say thousands will be left out of pocket due to the changes. The Sainsbury’s staff member said: “It’s a dogsbody contract – instead of being on different contracts we’ll be on one general contract. “They shouldn’t be hit because they are loyal and hard working and work the unpopular hours.” Ms McDonagh added: “How can a company that made pre-tax profit of £589m last year, with a CEO that receives £930,000 before bonuses, think it is right to force a pay cut on thousands of their most long-standing and loyal members of staff? A spokesperson for the supermarket said: “If you look at the retail environment it’s tough out there, as we’ve seen in the announcement from M&S this week, whereas what we are doing is offering a significant pay rise and we are disappointed that it’s being misrepresented in this way.” Sainsbury’s also attempted to quell the backlash on Thursday by saying talks with staff were finished, and it would invest an extra £10m in its proposed pay rates. Following chief executive Mike Coupe’s pledge that no jobs would be lost as a result of the proposed merger with Asda, Ms McDonagh said she hoped regulators would seek that assurance in writing.
History of this topic
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