One in four supermarket workers ‘miss meals every month to pay bills’
ONE in four supermarket workers have said they are missing meals every month in order to afford their bills.
Despite stacking shelves with groceries and scanning food all day, staff who were key workers during the pandemic are now unable to afford the food they are selling according to retail trade union Usdaw.
The rate of skipped meals has shot up from one in 20 in the past year.
And half of shop workers said fuel and travel costs have affected their ability to get to work.
Usdaw, which has 360,000 members, said that 70 per cent of the 5,500 workers polled were now having to rely on borrowing and 60 per cent were struggling to make repayments on their debts.
One worker said: “My first hour’s wage now only just pays for my petrol that day.”
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Another said they had “gone over my credit card limit to put food on the table and pay my bills”.
Another said: “I have two jobs as one wouldn’t pay the bills.”
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Usdaw boss Paddy Lillis said: “It is heart-breaking to hear these testimonies from workers who we rely on for essential services.”
The union wants a minimum wage of £12 an hour.