Unions representing XPO Logistics staff have demanded a full investigation after the company’s US CEO allegedly received an bonus of up to $80 million during a period in which the company is estimated to have received more than £100 million from UK taxpayers in furlough payments.
XPO is said to employ over 25,000 staff in the UK and conducts transport and logistics work for major supermarkets including Morrisons, Co-op, Waitrose and Iceland.
In a joint statement, the Unite and GMB Unions pointed out that XPO’s UK staff have not yet received any pandemic bonus, despite their hard work:
Unlike the chief executive, XPO staff, who have risked their health and that of their families by continuing to work throughout the pandemic, will not receive any form of Covid-19 pandemic bonus, despite the unions Unite and GMB, lobbying for such a payment to be made. XPO has also refused to make up the pay of the wages of workers who have been furloughed, who are only receiving the basic 80 per cent government rate.
According to Unite, government figures of furlough payments show that XPO claimed at least £3.28 million in December 2020 and up to £10.5 million in February 2021. If this figure is averaged over the entire period of the scheme to date, then XPO will have received more than £100 million in furlough payments. In addition, the unions claim that XPO may also have received millions of pounds in taxpayer-funded business rates relief.
As highlighted by the unions, XPO recorded $16.5 billion in revenue in 2020 with a record breaking second half of the year. In July of last year, Jacobs reportedly received a long-term cash award of up to $80 million and an annual bonus of $3.3 million for his handling of the Covid pandemic.
As one might expect, the unions are from impressed. Unite national officer Matt Draper described the bonus as a “complete kick in the teeth for the XPO workers”:
The bonuses given to the chief executive are a complete kick in the teeth for the XPO workers who have risked their health to keep the company operating throughout the pandemic. There is clearly one rule for the bosses and another for the workers on the frontline who have been denied any kind of bonus. What makes this even more sickening is that UK taxpayers’ money appears to have gone straight into the pockets of the company’s American chief executive.
Mick Rix of GMB was equally critical, accusing XPO of being slow to introduce social distancing measures among other things:
XPO spend on executive pay is nothing short of greed – especially when you contrast how slow XPO was to enact UK government guidance for employers on social distancing and other requirements at the start of the pandemic. At one stage, XPO encouraged workers to share freezer suits at its Morrisons supermarket site in Scotland – until GMB stepped in. It’s time the XPO workforce was treated with respect and given a share in the vast company profits that they help contribute to.
XPO are due to host their AGM today, and the UK unions are calling on the company’s shareholders and customers, including the UK government and major supermarkets, to work with unions to ensure that the company “values its workers, compensates them fairly and respects international labour standards.”
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