GMB ASDA trade union to block ASDA and Sainsbury merger
4 March 2019

Help the GMB trade union block the Sainsbury’s takeover of ASDA. This merger is not good for competition and will affect our members working for these supermarkets; it is a bad deal all round. The CMA provisional findings warned that the merger between Sainsbury’s/ASDA could result in substantial lessening of competition in:

  • supermarkets in 629 local areas

  • convenience stores in 65 local areas

  • delivery supply points in 290 local areas

The report offers two options

  • Complete prohibition of the merger or

  • Potential sell off of hundreds of stores, and operations, depots, IT and Home Office. But this carries significant risk of being an ineffective remedy.

Additional Conditions

  • Divestment of one or the other brands

  • Divestment of Stores, Distribution, IT and Central Operations

  • Clear preference for any divestiture to comprise of solely Sainsburys or ASDA assets.

  • Identifying a suitable single purchaser, with strong management, a proven track record in UK groceries retailing, able to compete in all markets, with a credible business plan.

  • Up front buyer before merger, able to operate effectively as an independent competitor.

 

GMB North West & Irish Region

 

GMB Response

The CMA provisional findings of prohibition or the sell-off of hundreds of stores, home shopping, petrol stations, and depots is unviable and is fundamentally different from what ASDA & Sainsbury’s are proposing. Both ASDA & Sainsbury’s are on the record as saying they did not want to sell stores.
On the basis of CMA provisional findings, GMB Union is opposed to the merger going ahead.

The sell-off of hundreds of stores, and divestment of depots would be devastating for people’s lives, livelihoods and local communities. GMB will continue to support Asda in being the highly successful, standalone business it has been for generations.

GMB Union is talking to ASDA, and will fight to save stores, depots and jobs. Our members deserve certainty and job security and we’re calling on ASDA to make clear they will not proceed with the merger on the basis of the CMA findings.

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GMB North West & Irish Region