The Business and Trade Committee has written to Asda co-owner
Mohsin Issa to ask him to clarify evidence given by Asda’s Chief
Commercial Officer, Kris Comerford, who appeared before the
Committee on Tuesday 27 June, as part of an evidence session on
fuel and food price inflation.
In his letter, Committee
Chair says that the Committee is
“concerned about apparent discrepancies” between Mr Comerford’s
evidence on fuel pricing and a Competition and Markets Authority
market study published this week. During the session, Mr
Comerford claimed that Asda’s fuel pricing strategy policy had
not changed, but the CMA found “a significant weakening of
competitive pricing” from Asda.
Asked if Asda were still using fire-and-rehire tactics – when an
employer fires an employee and offers them a new, potentially
less favourable contract – Mr Comerford said they were “not
something that Asda employs.”
However, letters from Asda and the GMB union also
published today make the accuracy of this statement unclear. GMB
told the Committee that Asda had issued the threat of using fire
and rehire that Asda characterised as ‘dismiss and reengage’ as
‘a last resort’ in its own letter.
Mr Jones has asked Mr Issa to appear before the Committee to
discuss these concerns on Wednesday 19 July, at 4.30pm. Any
evidence given would be in public and on the record.
