Sainsbury’s will hold a shareholder vote at its upcoming AGM on pay for all its entry-level staff amid growing support from investors for the grocer to pay the ‘real living wage’ across the UK.

Sainsbury's Edinburgh

Several Sainsbury’s shareholders including Legal & General, which is Britain’s biggest institutional investor and has a 1.92% stake in the supermarket chain, have supported a campaign by Share Action for the grocer to pay higher wages.

The group of investors, which also includes HSBC, Fidelity International and the National Employment Savings Trust, has surpassed the required threshold for the retailer to put the proposal to all shareholders. 

The resolution calls for Sainsbury’s to pay the ‘real living wage’ to all staff and third-party contractors including cleaners and security guards.

Sainsbury’s already meets the real living wage for workers in inner and regional London, but fails to do so in outer London, where the £10.50 hourly rate of pay falls below the real living wage of £11.05 for the region.

Support from Legal & General for the campaign follows the accredited living wage employer persuading FTSE 100 housebuilder Persimmon to increase its salaries to living wage levels last year.

Share Action, which is backed by charities and trade unions, has previously won a pay concession from Tesco and is currently pressuring Unilever to up its wages.

Share Action said: “Low-paid workers in the supermarket sector are being hit incredibly hard by rising living costs, yet we all owe them so much following the pandemic.

“The directors of all supermarkets that aren’t accredited as living wage employers should be asking themselves why not and taking steps to put things right by their workforces before their investors force the issue.”

Legal & General praised Sainsbury’s for its £100m investment in wages earlier this year but said “the cost of living crisis does not discriminate between those living in inner and outer London”.

Sainsbury’s said it was “acutely conscious” of the cost of living crisis but “it is vital that we not only pay our colleagues fairly but that we are also able to invest significantly to offer customers great value”.

The resolution will be put to shareholders at its AGM on July 6.

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