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Furious Asda workers are staging protests over a "brutal" new contract.

GMB says the UK-wide action comes after staff were told to sign the supermarket's controversial Contract 6 or "get the sack in time for Christmas".

Asda says it "values its employees" - yet staff who don't accept the new deal have been handed 12 weeks' notice.

The supermarket, which employs hundreds on Teesside, says the deal will help future-proof its business in an "immensely competitive" retail sector and will "increase the take-home pay of more than 100,000 retail colleagues".

(Image: Stoke Sentinel)

The "overwhelming majority" of employees have already signed up to the scheme, it claims, and although some workers may find the changes "unsettling", bosses claim, they "don't want any of them to leave".

The supermarket employs hundreds on Teesside at stores including Portrack in Stockton , Thornaby and Asda Living at Teesside Park.

The GMB says Asda is "already punishing" workers who haven’t signed up, by taking away their sick pay.

Many GMB members say the contract is forcing them to choose between caring for vulnerable relatives or losing their jobs in the run up to Christmas, the union claims.

Gary Carter, GMB National Officer, said: “Our members are angry.

“Workers who have given years or loyal service are being told ‘sign this brutal contract or get the sack in time for Christmas’.

“By forcing people to sign this contract, Asda are making people choose between their families or their jobs.

“We’re calling on Asda to respect its workforce and offer dedicated, long-serving staff a better deal.”

Asda has denied Contract 6 is a cost-cutting exercise , after shelling out more than £80m so far.

The deal follows other big supermarkets including Sainsbury's, which introduced its own 'sign or be sacked' deal for workers - reflecting "just how competitive the sector has become" in recent years.

Asda says the contract will increase the base rate of pay to £9 an hour plus premiums such as "location weighting and a bakery rate.

Benefits such as annual bonus and colleague discounts will be preserved.

For the "small number of colleagues" who will be worse off, Asda claims it will "top up" their wages until mid-2021.

It will continue to discuss the new contract with staff who have not yet signed up, and those workers will be "able to change their mind at any point" during their notice period.

An Asda spokesman said: “The retail sector is immensely competitive and it is important that we are able to serve our customers in the best way to meet their needs.

"This contract is about increasing the take-home pay of more than 100,000 retail colleagues, through an investment of more than £80m, and ensuring that everyone doing the same job is on the same terms and conditions.

“The overwhelming majority of our colleagues from across all our stores have signed onto the new contracts and while we appreciate that some of our colleagues find the changes more unsettling, we do not want any of them to leave.

"We understand colleagues have commitments outside of work and will not be asking them to constantly move the time they work, their days or departments.”