Asda has reached agreement with the Unite trade union to pay agency workers in the food industry the same as permanent employees.

According to a report in The Times, Unite says that 6,000 workers would win improved pay under the agreement, which cover 29 suppliers.

Agency workers are paid between 30p and £1 an hour less than permanent workers doing the same job, says Unite.

Asda’s announcement comes ahead of the implementation of the Agency Workers Directive (AWD), due to take place on 1 October 2011.

The British Chambers of Commerce estimates the cost of the AWD to British industry as £1.5bn a year.

In a statement Asda says that after an investigation into working condition in the food industry, “we agreed with Unite that agency workers who do the same work as permanent workers should receive equal pay, and that agency work should not be used as a means of preventing them from accessing the same rights as permanent workers”.

Tony Watson, business development manager at Labour Tech Recruitment, a gangmaster in the food industry, welcomed Asda’s announcement.

Watson told Recruiterthat paying temporary workers the same as permanent employees was good news for the workers themselves, “who are currently being exploited, certainly around here”.

And it was good for those gangmasters who treated their staff fairly, because it would provide a more level playing field with more unscrupulous operators who undercut “squeaky clean companies like ourselves”.

Watson adds: “Some gangmasters pay the minimum wage but then don’t pay holiday pay, for example.  So hopefully by raising the wages this will give us a little bit more room for our profits.”

A spokesperson for Tesco told Recruiter: “The company works closely with suppliers to ensure that agency workers are treated decently and share good practice.”

A source close to Tesco added that there were question marks about how Asda’s announcement would work in practice.  For example, agency staff work for companies many of whom supply several different supermarkets and not just Asda.