Aldi (UK) becomes first supermarket chain to pay all staff MORE than the real living wage

[Sherman A1]

Aldi is to become the first supermarket to pay staff above the voluntary living wage.

The discount chain is increasing its minimum pay rate for more than 3,350 workers to £8.53 an hour - and £9.75 in London - from February 1.

It means most staff will get 8p an hour more than the Living Wage Foundation’s £8.45 an hour, and piles pressure on rivals.

The new rate is 91p an hour more than Tesco pays, and 87p an hour more than Sainsbury’s.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/business/aldi-becomes-first-supermarket-chain-9570557?ICID=FB_mirror_main

It appears that the light bulb has illuminated at this UK Chain.....

[Raster]

1. Aldi is owned by the same family that owns Trader Joes in America.

[woodsprite]

2. There are also Aldi's over here. There's one in Elkton, MD.

I haven't shopped there, but I have friends who do and they love it. Hopefully their American stores will follow suit with the UK.

[meow2u3]

9. There's also Aldi's in Nazareth, PA

Their starting wages are $11/hr for cashiers and stockers--and their prices are very affordable!

[TreasonousBastard]

5. Two German brothers who...

split their empire into two different stores.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theo_Albrecht

Theodor Paul "Theo" Albrecht (28 March 1922 – 24 July 2010) was a German entrepreneur, who in 2010 was ranked by Forbes as the 31st richest person in the world, with a net worth of $16.7 billion.[2] He owned and was the CEO of the Aldi Nord discount supermarket chain. In the US he owned the Trader Joe's specialty grocery store chain. His brother Karl Albrecht owned the Aldi Süd discount supermarket chain. The two chains originally were a single family enterprise until a friendly division of assets in 1960. Aldi Süd operates the Aldi groceries in the United States. So Aldi and Trader Joe's, while owned by the brothers, have separate and distinct ownership and operations.

ALDI was founded in 1913 and is still family owned, sort of. Theo Albrecht bought Trader Joe's from it's California founder in 1979

Closest Trader Joe's to me is an hour down the road, but there is an ALDI a mile away. And I'm there all the time.

[woodsprite]

10. Interesting! Thanks for posting.

We also have a Lidl's (another German grocery chain) that will be coming to our area. I hadn't heard of that one before, but my SIL said that they have good pricing but get you on the labeling - they label the shelf above the product, where most stores in the US label the shelf the product sits on, so you might grab something you think is one price, when it really rings up as another. We'll have to see. Sounds like that may be a flukey thing and not intentional.

[TreasonousBastard]

11. They have those hanging signs at the local Aldi, too, but...

things get hectic and messy and it's a good thing they have a price scanner over in the corner.

EVERY store I've been in lately has a problem with correct pricing on the shelves. It's like they just don't care. Or just can't get the minimum wage floor people to do it right.

[muriel_volestrangler]

12. And the Aldi UK the OP is about is Aldi Sud, so the same as Aldi US, not trader Joe's

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldi#Geographic_distribution

[Nonhlanhla]

3. And yet their prices are fantastic

We got an Aldis near us last year. I love it! The choices are limited, but the quality is good and I spend significantly less than at other stores.

I told my neighbor about it but she went only once. Said she did not feel safe there. Which is laughable. But it's in an area that is more predominantly African American. These are our Trump voting neighbors, of course... sigh.

Meanwhile I save on average $200 per month by shopping at Aldis...

[mainer]

4. One in Ithaca, NY. It's like a warehouse store

bare-bones displays, harsh lighting, limited selection, but very very cheap.

[TreasonousBastard]

6. Here, they pay a little more than Stop&Shop, but still not enough to live on.

[MANative]

7. We have one in Danbury, CT and I know the manager pretty well.

They pay $12.75/hour as starting pay for part-time cashiers. Full-time people start at around $14/hour, more with experience. Most managers make $85K or better. Food's generally pretty decent quality and good value, but not always thrilled with the quality/freshness of their produce.

[Grey Lemercier]

8. 9.75 quid per hour (around 12 usd) here in London is utterly impossible to live on

The average letting for a 2 bdrm flat in my neighbourhood (South Kensington, which is very posh, but far from the most expensive) is around £4400 pcm (5400 usd per month). One bdrm lettings average £3000 pcm (3700 usd).

Bear in mind also that the pound is WAY down against the US dollar, or those usd rates would be much higher.

Even crime ridden, poor neighbours have become very high in terms of rent. In Bow (bad part of Tower Hamlets in East London) a one bedroom averages around £1,200 pcm (1500 usd) two bedrooms £1,800 pcm(2200 usd). Many flats in Bow are just horrific too.