Co-op checkout staff offered £5 an hour

A pay offer for more than 35,000 workers employed by the co-operative movement will see their hourly rate rise to £5 an hour.

The rise represents a 10.4% pay increase for staff employed as general assistants, checkout operators and others (grades B, C and D). Staff on other grades have been offered between 7.5 and 3%.

The deal was negotiated by Usdaw and the Co-operative Employers Association. If accepted in an in-store ballot, the rates will be effective from 1 October 2003.

Usdaw national officer Sharon Ainsworth congratulated the co-operative movement on its responsible approach to these negotiations: "Once again they have proved they are an employer with a difference."