Workers at luxury fashion retailer Net‑a‑Porter are set to vote on potential strike action after being told their wages will fall short of the London Living Wage, despite what unions say was a previous commitment by the company to adopt the rate.
More than 100 warehouse staff at the company’s fulfilment centre in Charlton, southeast London, will take part in a formal ballot organised by the GMB. The vote will determine whether employees move forward with industrial action in a dispute centred on pay levels and living costs in the capital.
The row comes at a sensitive time for the luxury online retailer, which recently completed a redundancy consultation across parts of its operations.
According to the GMB, Net-a-Porter had committed in 2021 to paying staff the London Living Wage, a voluntary rate calculated annually to reflect the cost of living in the capital.
However, the union claims the company has now proposed a lower hourly rate for its lowest-paid warehouse workers. Under the current offer, staff would receive £14.41 per hour, which the union argues falls short of the level required for workers to maintain a reasonable standard of living in London.
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