Having worked for a supermarket the staff should be paid more, that said this this is a slippery slope decision.

Comparing a warehouse worker to a shelf stacker is ridiculous anyone who has done both jobs will tell you that supermarket warehouse work is hard physical labour which is why it is mainly done by men.

Physical labour and getting dirty seems to be undervalued when ever these equal pay cases come up so school cleaners are compared to dustmen.

If the ladies of Asa want equal pay that could always transfer to the warehouse. Even in the supermarket the ladies didn't pull their weight the men did the box humping for the ladies which I had no problem with but it seems some of them want it both ways.

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Edited by Badger11 (26 Mar 2021 11.06am)

One more point

Agreed.

But we live in times where reason gives way to expediency.

Companies live in fear of how something can be portrayed and that wins out over common sense.

Because conservatives gave up on social policies to the left this now will always be the result.

Edited by Stirlingsays (26 Mar 2021 11.27am)

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)

Hasn't this been law for about 50 years? I was once forced to sit through the film "made in dagenham" which is about pretty much the same thing.

Personally I would have a minimum wage of £10 per hour for everyone.

The problem I have with this case is it is not like for like when comparing roles and hence equal pay.

In the warehouse you spend all day loading and unloading lorries with pallets it is hard physical labour and maybe outdoors or in an unheated environment in all weathers.

In a supermarket you work in doors and the pallets have been broken down. You may pick up a cardboard box containing 12 tins of soup to put on a shelf. The warehouse worker will lift a container probably holding 4 times the number of that if not more.

In the work place we value and reward intelligence and skill but I also think that physical strength should be valued as well.

Where I worked in M&S not a single woman worked in the warehouse and none of them wanted to and it's not just the women. I did occasional stints there and knew I could not cut it physically due to my age and bad back.
Unloading an HGV in the snow was I day I wont forget.

Somebody mentioned Dagenham and I think in that case the women were correct they were seamstresses which is a skilled job and they deserved better pay.

Neither shelf stack or warehouse worker are skilled but again it is about availability of Labour. Plenty of people want to do shop work but a young fit unskilled man can get better pay than warehouse work so that has to be taken into account as well.

One more point

Warehouse work can be dangerous too as anyone who’s been there when a forklift driver pushes a pallet off the top rack will tell you.

What this case actually relates to is equal pay for work of equal value; if it goes to an employment tribunal to judge, they will likely use some form of job evaluation to come to a judgement re the value of the different roles and whether they can be perceived as of "equal value" taking account of the very different work involved. The issue, of course, will affect not just Asda but all supermarkets - hence the judgement one way or other will be highly significant.

All that has happened thus far is that it has been agreed the case can go to court - no judgement has been made and I suspect this will run on for years given the appeals process etc. Very high stakes for both employers and unions.