Dave Gill - Usdaw National Officer says: “It’s been a tough time for retail staff, so we are pleased to have secured this bonus for our members in B&M. They are providing an essential service, that we all rely on, and they deserve our support, respect and appreciation. So we very much welcome B&M’s recognition of the work their staff are doing in these difficult times.
 
“We continue to call on the company to revisit the support provided for extremely vulnerable colleagues and are always working to improve health and safety. Retail staff are dealing with the public every day and are not only suffering increased abuse, but are also deeply worried about catching Covid-19.

“That must be taken into account by the Government when assessing risk levels and priority for vaccines and testing. So we are calling on the Government to ensure that retail workers are given priority, because they provide the essential service of keeping the nation fed.

“Usdaw also urges the shopping public to follow the necessary hygiene and social distancing rules to help make shops as safe as possible for customers and staff alike.”

Notes for editors:
 
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fifth biggest trade union with over 400,000 members. Membership has increased by more than one-third over the last couple of decades. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemicals and other trades.
 
The B&M bonus applies to all salaried or hourly paid store and distribution staff below the level of Deputy Manager in stores or Team Manager in distribution, employed by the company since the first lockdown on 23 March 2020. This is approximately 30,000 colleagues across the B&M and Heron businesses, will be paid on the 29 January pay run and calculated on base contracted hours. 
 
For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter @UsdawUnion