Dear Mr Coupe, Firstly, thank you for taking the time to respond to this petition. Unfortunately, it is misleading of my position and that of over 10,000 of my fellow longstanding colleagues. My understanding of an ‘investment in store colleagues’ is clearly very different from yours. It would certainly not involve slashing the wages of your longest serving and most loyal staff. We are the weekend workers and the nightshift staff, the bakers and the drivers. And your proposals will see us lose up to £3,000 per year. You argue that colleagues currently do ‘exactly the same job, but are paid different amounts’ but we are only in this situation because you choose to offer less and less money to each new starter! This is nothing more than a disingenuous, misleading and damaging race-to-the-bottom. If you truly believed in the ‘fairness’ you speak of then you would not be insisting that me and my colleagues work the same job FOR LESS MONEY. Because once the 18 month top-up payment is over, our bills will stay the same and yet our wages will plummet. How are we to keep morale high and offer the best customer service to our customers? We feel so cheated and disposable. We are not reassured that you're trying to do the right thing, the right thing is to allow those who don't want to sign the new contract to be ABLE TO KEEP THEIR JOBS AND NOT DISMISS THEM. If you are sincere about the importance of listening to this consultation’s response, then please listen to the 60,000 (and counting) colleagues and customers across the country who have signed this petition and who share my despair. And whilst we are facing sleepless nights, you can imagine our frustration seeing you singing “We’re in the money” on ITV News. But there were some lyrics you missed out from your rendition: “Old Man Depression you are through, you done us wrong. We never see a headline about breadlines today. And when we see the landlord we can look that guy right in the eye” Although written about a fantasised end to the Great Depression in 1933, it echoes the reality that low paid workers are still facing some 85 years later, and the reality you are pushing 10,000 of your most loyal staff further towards.   TO EVERYONE WHO HAS SIGNED THE PETITION Thank you all for your support and comments, you've been amazing! A contract should be worth the paper it is written on. At the start of our employment we sign a contract and those T&Cs should not change on a whim. If you agree with me, please share this response and the petition widely on social media using the following link: https://bit.ly/2wyfyEV Michelle X