Morrisons

2,500 jobs
Number of planned job losses

Announcement Date

11 September 2005

Employment effect (start)

Foreseen end date

Description

Supermarket group Morrisons is planning to close three distribution depots, with the potential loss of up to 2,500 jobs, the GMB union has said. The depots involved, in Kent, Bristol and Cheshire, were formerly owned by Safeway which Morrisons bought in 2003. The GMB said there had been no consultation between it and Morrisons about redeploying workers. Jude Brimble, national officer for the GMB, told the BBC: 'These are all long-serving Safeway employees in these depots - a couple of thousand workers.' The union has warned that Morrisons could face the biggest national strike in its history. In response,

Morrisons said it had already made it clear that a wide-reaching review of its depot operations was taking place. 'Since acquiring Safeway, we have sold over 180 stores and the reality is that we have more depot space and capacity than we need,' the supermarket group said in a statement. Morrisons said it was keeping its workers and unions fully informed and planned to hold further talks once the review was complete.

Sources

• 11 September 2005: BBC News