retail industry

Britain’s Tesco outperforming rivals, but strike threat grows

Reuters

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

Britain’s Tesco outperforming rivals, but strike threat grows

TESCO. A man looks at products on a shelf inside a Tesco Extra superstore near Manchester, Britain, January 8, 2020.

Phil Noble/Reuters

(1st UPDATE) Tesco, Britain's biggest retailer, faces walkouts by thousands of workers over a pay dispute

LONDON, United Kingdom – Shares in Tesco rose on Tuesday, December 7, after industry data showed Britain’s biggest retailer had gained its highest market share since February 2019, though the threat of pre-Christmas strikes has escalated.

The stock was up 1.3% at 1604 GMT, extending 2021 gains to 23%, after market researcher Kantar showed Tesco significantly outperformed its main rivals – Sainsbury’s, Asda, and Morrisons – in the 12 weeks to November 28, winning 0.7 percentage points of market share in the period, its biggest jump since 2007.

While the data showed Tesco leading the pack going into the key Christmas period, a cloud on the horizon is potential strike action that could hit product availability in stores.

Tesco was already facing strikes by Unite union workers at four distribution centers in a dispute over pay.

It is now facing walkouts by over 5,000 members of the Usdaw union at a further nine depots – Daventry, Peterborough, Hinckley, and Lichfield in central England, Goole in northern England, Southampton in southern England, Livingston in Scotland, and Magor in Wales.

The Usdaw members will strike from December 20 to December 24.

Both unions have rejected Tesco’s offer of a 4% annual pay increase.

“Industrial action and possible stock shortages in stores in the week before Christmas can be avoided. It needs the company to engage positively in talks with Usdaw and we stand ready to reopen negotiations,” said Usdaw national officer Joanne McGuinness.

Tesco says it has made a fair pay offer and has plans in place to help mitigate any impacts.

Separately on Tuesday, the GMB union said that Asda, Britain’s third biggest supermarket group, is also facing potential strike action over its pay offer to distribution workers. A ballot of members closes on December 20.

Asda had no immediate comment.

British retailers are already grappling with delays in international supply chains that are being compounded by labor shortages in domestic transport and warehousing networks, with a lack of heavy goods vehicle drivers particularly acute.

However, both Tesco and Asda have said they are coping well. – Rappler.com

Add a comment

Sort by

There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.

Summarize this article with AI

How does this make you feel?

Loading
Download the Rappler App!