EMPLOYEES at Warrington's Next stores could be facing the sack if they do not agree to a £1,000 a year pay cut for working Sundays, according to GMB.

The union has said that Next considers Sunday to be a normal working day and ‘uses that view to justify cutting pay for low paid employees for working that day’.

GMB members employed by Next since before 2009 were told on Friday they faced the threat of dismissal if they did not agree to a cut in pay of £1,000 for working on Sunday.

When Sunday opening was introduced Next agreed to pay staff required to work on Sunday for time plus 50 per cent of the hourly rate for each hour worked on a Sunday.

This is worth £20 per week or £1,000 per year for long term staff but the company now wants to end this premium for those employed before 2009.

There are three Next stores in Warrington, in Golden Square, Riverside Retail Park and Gemini Retail Park in Westbrook.

Mick Rix, GMB national officer for retail workers, said: "The day after the general election GMB started to get calls from members employed by Next saying managers were asking them to agree to the removal of the Sunday premium.

“They were warned failure to do so could result in redundancy and many told us that they felt bullied into signing it.

“In 2009 Next unilaterally stopped the 50 per cent premium payment for all new starters. Next now claim that it is not fair to pay this 50 per cent to the long term employees doing the same work on the same day to those they refused to pay in the first place.

“What absolute tosh as a justification to cut pay for low paid workers by £1,000 per year.”

In response to the GMB claims, Next has said that only staff who joined before 2008 were paid a Sunday premium which is now less than 10 per cent of the staff who work on a Sunday.

A spokesman said: “Next’s proposal to drop the Sunday Premium was communicated to the relevant staff in February and the proposal has been accepted by 99 per cent of them.

“The rationale for making a change is that Next feels it can no longer justify paying some people up to 50 per cent more than colleagues doing the same work on the same day.”

According to Next, 800 people received some sort of Sunday premium and only 167 got the maximum premium of time and half because they joined before 2001.

“Of these 167 people, 90 per cent have accepted the new contract and agreed to the proposed removal of the Sunday Premium.

“Nine have decided to take redundancy and the remainder, less than 10 people, are currently undecided either.”

“In context, all the staff figures quoted above are out of a workforce of just over 50,000, so only a very small number of people at Next are affected by the proposed change.

“Working on a Sunday, since it was introduced back in the 90s, has become a ‘new normal’ – so Next feels it is no longer justifiable to pay some of its staff up to 50% more than colleagues doing the same work on the same day.”

GMB are aware that a consultation took place but said that the results were delayed until after the general election to prevent it being affected by negative publicity.

Mr Rix said: "After the consultation process finished on the proposal on March 22 the staff contracted to work on a Sunday heard nothing more.

"The staff rightly felt that Next would delay any announcement until after the general election in case the Lord Wolfson, chief executive, received any further negative publicity that could blow back on the Tory Party."

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