Steve Rowe, M&S CEO, made his comments after the group reported a 7.1% increase in pre-tax profits. It was reported that M&S had not ruled out further store closures, with around one-third of their stores dating back to before World War Two, and that Mr Rowe had said: “We won’t pause at 100”.
 
Dave Gill - Usdaw National Officer says: “M&S management are not treating their staff with the dignity and respect they deserve. It is deeply regrettable that they should hear such devastating news through the media. There is a clear breakdown in communications, the staff are not being properly consulted on the future of their jobs and they need to be represented an independent trade union.
 
“All staff in M&S stores were put under threat of redundancy in November 2016 when the company announced a restructuring that would affect around 100 shops over a five year period. They did not say which store will close and so far we’ve seen three waves of closure announcements. This piecemeal approach to reorganising the business is extremely distressing for the staff.
 
“This latest remark only makes matters worse and staff in older stores are now very worried about the future. Usdaw has thousands of members working for Marks and Spencer and the staff now need, more than ever, the representation and support of an independent trade union; an experienced and knowledgeable trade union interrogating the company's business case for this store reorganisation.
 
“We again urge M&S management to abandon their long-held resistance to allowing Usdaw to represent the staff. It is simply unjust that the company have made the decision not to engage with a trade union. The staff are telling us they want Usdaw to represent them, it should be their choice.”
 
Notes for editors:
 
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fifth biggest and the fastest growing trade union with around 430,000 members. Membership has increased by more than 28% over the 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