"Big pay rise for Burton Sainsbury's and Argos workers after union talks", 7 January 2022

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Sainsbury’s is increasing its basic hourly rate of pay for all Sainsbury’s and Argos staff from £9.50 to £10 an hour - equating to nearly £1,000 a year for a full-time employee,

The supermarket is also increasing additional payment rates for drivers, with groceries online drivers now getting £11.50 per hour.

Argos fast-track delivery drivers will receive £11 per hour, based on a base rate of £10 per hour plus an extra £1, up from 75p.

It follows a major campaign by Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW), which has been campaigning for better pay for shop workers.

Sainsbury’s chief executive Simon Roberts said: "To kick off the new year, I'm pleased that one of the first things we're doing is investing in our colleagues and lifting our basic hourly rate of pay to £10. We are making this significant investment to show our colleagues how much we value the brilliant job they do for our customers every day.

"It also reflects the significant progress we are making against our plan and to save money we can invest in lower prices, offer fantastic colleague service and make shopping convenient for customers.

"We have also listened to our colleagues and are enhancing our colleague discount scheme to help them plan their grocery spend and manage their shopping budgets better, which could save colleagues hundreds of pounds a year."...

Usdaw National Officer Dave Gill said: "For some time we have been in discussions with Sainsbury’s about increasing retail staff pay to at least £10 an hour, as we call for in our New Deal for Workers campaign.

"So I'm pleased that Sainsbury’s are able to implement this new hourly rate, a rise that achieves that goal and takes most staff beyond the real living wage...