MORRISONS MUST END ITS DISCIMINATORY WAGE POLICY

This Saturday saw a group of indignant Morrisons workers and its supporters from Unite the Union take to the streets of Gibraltar in protest for the clearly intolerable, discriminatory practices they are being subjected to by the fifth-biggest UK supermarket chain.

These practices include paying higher wages to imported UK labour than to locally hired workers, even when those locally hired workers have more skills and seniority than their UK counterparts. This has produced grotesque situations, such as a locally hired, experienced employee providing training to a recently hired UK expat on a higher salary than his own.

Despite Morrisons’ recent economic struggles in the UK, it is well known that its Gibraltar store has consistently been one of the retailer’s top 10 supermarkets in terms of sales. The Gibraltarian community has been generous with the Morrisons brand, and its workers have been diligent and committed. The company has also benefited from the remarkable and sustained economic growth of the broader community, whose economic output and standards of living have risen steadily for decades. Furthermore, Gibraltar’s favourable tax regime has provided the perfect backdrop for this economic success story, and a commercial relationship that is solid and thriving.

Gibraltarians value their local, British supermarket, as they value their access to some of the UK staples that many of us consume in our homes. It could be argued that the presence of a British supermarket chain is fundamental for the expression of parts of Gibraltarian culture, particularly its gastronomy.

For this deep, and long-standing relationship to be put at risk by these practices is not only unfair, it is bad business. Gibraltarians will not be passive bystanders of these discriminatory practices that belong to a bygone age of classism and injustice. Many in our community still remember the days of hard-nosed imperialism, the segregated bathrooms and the wage scales by nationality. This situation is too reminiscent of these painful realities to ignore.

Together Gibraltar urges Morrisons to reconsider its policy, and put an end to all forms of discrimination within the company. If this does not happen, the party urges the Government, who includes the likes of sir Joe Bossano, one of the leaders of the fight for parity of wages in the 70s, to stay true to its values and put an end to this situation. TG would also like to express its willingness to collaborate in any legislative effort to put an end to these kinds of practices once and for all.