JOHN LEWIS and Waitrose workers fear for their jobs after the firm announced it was slashing redundancy pay, the GMB union said today.

Hundreds of union members are worried the move will precede a round of redundancies at the new lower rate. 

GMB national officer Nadine Houghton said: “John Lewis Partnership (JLP) are saying this is cost-neutral, and savings will be passed directly into ‘partner’ wages, but this is little consolation for any of our members who ends up losing our jobs. 

“They are supposed to be ‘partners’ rather than workers — but they have not been consulted about these changes at all. 

“We understand the works council meets this week and will be asked to rubber-stamp the redundancy changes as well as potentially be informed of job cuts. 

“The more staff join GMB, the less chance managers will be able to get away with these sort of power moves in future.” 

A spokeswoman for JLP said: “The John Lewis Partnership has a plan to return to profit, which involves investing heavily to enhance our customer offer, technology, stores and becoming more efficient.

“This is working and performance is improving but sadly this means reducing the number of Partners we need in our business. It would be inappropriate to discuss details and our Partners will be the first to know about any changes."