Asda loses Supreme Court appeal in equal pay fight

Thousands of Asda supermarket workers have won a major victory at the Supreme Court in their battle for equal pay.

The court upheld an earlier court ruling that lower-paid shop staff, who are mostly women, can compare themselves with higher paid warehouse workers, who are mostly men.

The judge stressed the ruling did not mean the 45,000 claimants had won the right to equal pay.

However, they are now free to take further action.

The GMB union, which has members involved in the case, called it "amazing news and a massive victory for Asda's predominantly women shop floor workforce".

"Asda has wasted money on lawyers' bills chasing a lost cause, losing appeal after appeal, while tens of thousands of retail workers remain out of pocket," said Susan Harris, the GMB's legal director..

"We now call on Asda to sit down with us to reach agreement on the back pay owed to our members - which could run to hundreds of millions of pounds."

An Asda spokesman said there was a long way to go before the issues were finally settled: "This ruling relates to one stage of a complex case that is likely to take several years to reach a conclusion.

"We are defending these claims because the pay in our stores and distribution centres is the same for colleagues doing the same jobs regardless of their gender. Retail and distribution are very different sectors with their own distinct skill sets and pay rates."

It said it had always paid its staff the market rate for these sectors and it remained confident in its case.