A BRANCH of Sainsbury’s in London was briefly closed today after a group of protesters launched a demonstration over low wages for staff.
On a day when the capital is flooded with guests from around the country and across the world, activists entered the store on Kings Way in Holborn and described the low-pay issues over a megaphone. A spokesman for Sainsbury's has rejected the group's claims.
They also held up a Sainsbury's branded banner which read: "Try Something new today - Pay a living wage".
The group, who are members of the Pay Up campaign, have a list of aims on their website including: To make poverty pay a political issue inthe UK that can no longer be ignored, to generate a public debate on the relationship between labour and capital and to foster joint campaigning and organisation between union and civil disobedience activists.
Last Monday activists, trade unionists and supermarket workers launched a campaign to highlight low pay and "in-work poverty" at Sainsbury's, who are one of the Paralympic sponsors.
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Protesters gathered at the Sainsbury's headquarters to urge the company to pay a living wage to its staff. Organisers say it was the first in a series of high-profile demonstrations in the runup to the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
"We want to put the issue of low pay on the political agenda," said Daniel Garvin from the Pay Up campaign.
"Over the past 30 years those at the top have seen huge rewards, with some CEO pay rising by 4,000% at the same time, although productivity has risen, those in the bottom half of the national pay scale have seen their pay fall by 37%."
The Pay Up UK website is currently publicising a protest they call The Big One, on July 7 and it and urges people to give “Sainsbury’s a weekend they’ll never forget before their AGM on July 11”.
A spokesman for Sainsbury's rejected the claims of the campaign group and insisted it treated its staff fairly.
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He said: "We are committed to providing competitive pay and benefits to all our colleagues. In recent years we have invested significantly in our pay rates and benefits to make sure our colleagues continue to be paid fair and competitive rates.
"Our last colleague pay review saw an increase in our base rate of 2.7%, which was ahead of the industry average and national minimum wage increase."
The launch of the Pay Up campaign follows a series of increasingly radical direct action protests over the past month.
Garvin said: "The country is in the global spotlight this year and undoubtedly people will use the Olympics to make sure that mass unemployment, cuts, and endemic poverty are visible. That means protest. That may mean disruption."