Joanne McGuinness – Usdaw National Officer says: “Since the company closed their ‘Mobile by Sainsbury’s’ service in January 2016, we and the staff were aware that they were looking at options and that review has resulted in a new partnership with EE.
“We will now enter into consultation talks with Sainsbury’s, starting Monday for at least 45 days, where we will be looking at the business case for this proposal. Our priorities are to keep as many staff as possible employed within the business, seek suitable redeployment opportunities where necessary and avoid redundancies.
“Usdaw is also seeking early discussions with EE to ensure that the TUPE transfer goes ahead smoothly and that our members do not suffer any detriment in pay, terms and conditions or access to trade union representation.
“In the meantime we are providing our members with the advice, support and representation they require at this time of uncertainty.”
Notes for editors:
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fourth biggest and the fastest growing trade union with over 440,000 members. Membership has increased by more than 17% in the last five years and by nearly a third in the last decade. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the Union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemicals and other trades.
For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter @UsdawUnion