'We have all been treated very unfairly during this process, causing a lot of stress on colleagues' - Tesco Express employee highlights jobs concern ahead of Chesterfield store closure

The company is launching a new Tesco Express on High Street in the town centre this spring and will shutter its store in the Pavements centre.

A letter from an employee to the Derbyshire Times complains about the “poor treatment” of around 30 colleagues who are working at the Pavements store. The writer, who has asked to remain anonymous, says: “We, as a workforce were promised positions in Tesco Extras, near to our home address. Instead, with just over four weeks left at the Pavements store, we still have no idea whether we have jobs or not. There has been no communication between higher management and our store manger regarding permanent jobs or redundancy. We were told redundancy wasn’t on the table, however some employees have been told to “sit and wait”, whilst other people have been told “no redundancies”.

“Regarding the positions we were promised, at Clay Cross Extra, Chesterfield Extra and the Clowne store, which would have accommodated the remaining employees adequately, it transpires the only vacancies available are at Chesterfield Extra, which for a lot of people means a two bus ride journey to get to the store. The only positions available are dot.com, front end and nights, out of the people for whom these vacancies are suitable, we have a lot of colleagues that are unable to carry out these positions.

“All of the discussions/meetings have taken place on an “informal” basis, meaning there is no paper trail, also colleagues who were able to have union representatives present at said “meetings” were unrepresented as they weren’t told they were allowed to have representation.

“We have all been treated very unfairly during this process, causing a lot of stress on colleagues leading to very low morale and people not wanting to go to work anymore as we feel undervalued, unnecessary and left wondering how we are all expected to pay our bills and survive after February 18.

“As a result of the lack of clarity and indecision, the mental health of colleagues is being adversely affected. This is having a negative impact on personal and professional relationships.”

A spokesperson for Tesco has said that there will be no compulsory redundancies as a result of the changes. The consultation process with colleagues is still ongoing and the company would continue to discuss what these changes mean for them over the coming weeks.

The Derbyshire Times has asked whether February 18 is the date that the Tesco Express store in the Pavements centre will close but has not received an answer from the company.

A date for the launch of the new Tesco Express on High Street, in the old M&S building, has not yet been released.