Asda shoppers have taken to Twitter with the hashtag #boycottasda in reaction to the employment termination of a staff member who’d worked for the grocer for over a decade.
The employee in question, Duncan Carson, said he was “sacked” for refusing to sign the controversial new staff contract for which Asda is currently marred in controversy.
Asda had extended the deadline for staff to sign its new contract to this weekend, but Carson still took to Twitter to announce he’d been sacked after 13 years at the business.
At midnight I was sacked by Asda after 13 years. Not for doing anything wrong but for refusing to sign a new contract agreeing to work whatever days, hours and Bank holidays that suits them that week. Not asked, told. Sign it or you're fired.
Are you next?— Duncan Carson (@DuncanCarson6) November 3, 2019
Asda has denied that the contract would make employees “work whatever days”.
Nonetheless, Carson’s tweet went viral, attracting more than 11,0000 retweets and 20,000 likes at the time of writing.
Carson followed up with a tweet that revealed some of the new contract terms:
Some people have claimed that I have misrepresented the new contract, so for absolute clarity. pic.twitter.com/6VG3Uz4Gv6
— Duncan Carson (@DuncanCarson6) November 7, 2019
GMB, the union which represents Asda staff, said last week that up to 12,000 staff would not agree to the new contract and therefore were at risk of being sacked.
However, Asda insisted that figure was “unsubstantiated” and said on Friday that less than 1000 people had not yet signed.
The grocer also announced last week it would raise its hourly pay rate for supermarket staff by 18p next year.
“The overwhelming majority of our colleagues from across all our stores have signed onto the new contracts and while we appreciate that some of our colleagues find the changes more unsettling, we do not want any of them to leave,” an Asda spokesperson said last week.
“We understand colleagues have commitments outside of work and will not be asking them to constantly move the time they work, their days or departments.”
Carson’s viral tweet inspired the hashtag #boycottasda, with shoppers tweeting in outrage at the news.
#BoycottAsda They are sacking staff who refuse to sign new contracts they’re unilaterally imposing on them. The new contracts are reducing holiday days, removing work flexibility etc. Your staff deserve better @asda , you should be ashamed. 😡
— Bexhill Bookworm (@KarenKts11) November 6, 2019
https://twitter.com/RossGjallarhorn/status/1192085988400680961?s=20
https://twitter.com/FoxCrewe/status/1192138145321668608?s=20
Boycott @asda from now on and hit them where it hurts – their tills. #BoycottAsda https://t.co/h17lSAuXjk
— John Burns (@TwoStoreyADL) November 7, 2019
This is disgusting. Have a read of this and think if this is really the kind of supermarket you want to spend money in. I certainly won’t be. #BoycottAsda https://t.co/IP7Da6UMp6
— Marc Johnson (@marcjohnson27) November 7, 2019
I think that everyone should boycott Asda #boycottasda let’s get it trending! Companies should not treat their staff so badly. Unless we want to end up like Years and Years. We need to send a strong message to greedy corporations!!
— Hazel Ann (@Hazeyfantazey71) November 7, 2019
Click here to sign up to Retail Gazette‘s free daily email newsletter
