Part of 3. 3. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 3:20 pm on 28 June 2017.
I’ve estimated, Cabinet Secretary, that there’ll be approximately 100 jobs in Caerphilly affected by this. Last night, I attended a long-arranged consultation meeting with major retailers, which included Morrisons, Asda, Boots and Specsavers, and Tesco were down to attend and they weren’t there. They were notable by their absence, and they were missing again today, as far as I could see, from the Welsh Retail Consortium meeting that Adam Price has referred to. This is simply not good enough, because the appearance is that they’re running scared and that they’re afraid to speak to Assembly Members. I would have sought them out to speak about this. I heard it too from USDAW. It demonstrates the importance of having a strong trade union, and I commend the work that USDAW have done. It appears also that Julie Morgan AM and Anna McMorrin MP have had to force the door down to get to Tesco to talk to workers and to talk to officers at Tesco as well. It’s simply not good enough. So, when you speak to Tesco management, please could you ensure that you impress upon them the importance of talking to elected representatives? Because we heard directly from their workforce. I’ve got stories from their workforce that demonstrate this isn’t good enough. And indeed, I’d add that representatives of other retailers that I’ve spoken to have said this is a textbook example of how not to do employment relations; it’s absolutely appalling.