A PAY offer of £9.50 per hour from retailer Sainsbury’s and its Argos subsidiary falls short of key workers’ demands for decent basic pay, their union said today.

Usdaw, which represents around 40,000 workers at the two stores, expressed disappointment that the group had not yet followed the example of Morrisons, which agreed a £10 minimum for all staff last month under the union’s New Deal campaign.

Sainsbury’s, which has been booming during the pandemic, today spun its £9.50 offer coupled with a one-off 3 per cent bonus as generous — boasting that it had “handed out” more than £100 million in bonuses to workers since the crisis began.

But the union countered that occasional bonuses are no substitute for decent basic pay and would potentially affect the in-work benefits that many retail workers need to claim.

“Sainsbury’s staff have worked throughout pandemic to keep the nation fed, facing increased abuse from customers and worrying about catching Covid-19,” said Usdaw national officer Dave Gill, pointing out that for Sainsbury’s staff the increase would be just 20p per hour.

Mr Gill said that the offer represents a bigger rise for Argos workers, but “they too deserve better,” adding that most had also worked through the pandemic, with many redeployed into Sainsbury’s stores supporting the food-retail side of the business.