Furious Tesco staff face Christmas redundancy as supermarket giant cuts shifts and 24-hour opening times
More than 2,000 staff members could be affected by the latest reductions which will see fewer stores open all day
TESCO staff have been left devastated after learning they could face redundancy after retail giant announced it was cutting shifts and ending 24 hour trading in some stores.
Some workers face huge cuts in their working hours as the firm slashing late night staff numbers.
A selection of stores currently opening 24 hours a day are to cease doing so.
More than 1,000 aggrieved staff have signed a petition for the deal between the union Usdaw and Tesco to be ended amid accusations the union isnt sticking up for members.
More than 2,000 staff members could be affected by the latest reductions which will see fewer stores opening 24 hours a day.
A 45-day consultation period will begin this week and affected workers will learn if they still have job in November.
Earlier this year, Tesco, which has almost 3,500 outlets, announced reduced opening hours at 20 large stores but has now said it is bringing in the reduced hours at another 30 stores which will now close at midnight and re-open at 6am.
In another 149 stores shelf-filling will be carried out in the daytime rather than at night.
On the 'Very Little Helps' online forum, used by many Tesco employees, several claims were made by people who said they worked for the supermarket firm.
Some said that night-shift workers were having their weekly hours cut from 37 to 22.
One wrote: "I'm a single mum with two kids as well. Totally devastated. Used to work on days. Not long went to nights. Can't see me sleeping tonight."
Another said: "Nights still safe in my store, but non food aren't. Feel terrible for my colleagues that are affected. Think it'll come to us all eventually."
Another wrote: "How is it fair that some stores are cutting the night crews and others are free to stay as they are!! Just do it across the board in interest of fairness instead of screwing people over and upsetting them."
Tony Hoggett, Tesco chief operating officer said: "We're making some changes in a number of our stores to help us run them more simply and deliver the best possible service for customers. We understand this may be disruptive for some of our colleagues and where there have been changes to a colleagues role we will be working really hard to ensure they are fully supported."
In a message to staff, Tesco chief executive Matt Davies wrote: "Earlier this year, we announced some changes to help us run some of our stores a little more simply, while also improving the shopping trip for our customers.
"As part of this work, I wanted to let you know that this week we are announcing changes across many of our large stores.
"This includes changing the time we replenish our shelves from nights to the daytime or twilight, and the reduction in trading hours in some of our 24-hour stores.
"In some stores, it also involves bringing together different customer service desks so that shoppers can get everything they need in one place and simplifying a lot of the tasks – such as the way we approach our General Merchandise operations.
"Where we have already made similar changes earlier in the year, we have started to see the benefits of this simpler way of serving our customers – it’s freeing up more time to focus on serving our customers and ensuring our stores are at their best when they’re at their busiest.
"We do recognise that these are big changes which could be disruptive for many of our colleagues.
"We want to be open and upfront about what will be happening – our first priority will always be to make sure colleagues hear about these changes from us first, and we will work hard to support colleagues who are affected."
Pauline Foulkes, Usdaw National Officer, said: “Following a business review Tesco are announcing various operational changes at stores around the country.
"Each store will have different changes to address its specific needs and some will be more substantial than others.
"A period of consultation with individual staff is now beginning and our priority is to minimise redundancies and help as many employees as possible transition to new suitable roles within the organisation.
"We are providing the advice, support and representation our members need throughout the consultation period.”
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