DOZENS of people gathered outside Marks and Spencer in Regent Circus yesterday to protest against pay policies at a South Marston distribution centre.

Carrying placards bearing the slogans I AM A MAN and I AM A WOMAN, members of the GMB Union used the opportunity to mark the anniversary of the Memphis sanitation strike in 1968, an industrial dispute that formed part of the final campaign of US human rights activist Dr Martin Luther King.

More than 400 workers at the DHL depot, which operates as part of Marks and Spencer’s distribution chain, are on the books of an employment agency, 24.7 Recruitment.

They are then formally employed through another company, called Tempay Ltd, and are paid the minimum wage.

But another 300 workers doing the same job are employed directly by transport firm Wincanton at a rate of £8.45 per hour – £2 an hour more.

Chris Watts, president of the WIltshire and Swindon branch of the GMB, said: “It went very well. I think there were about 60 people who came out to protest with I’m a Man, I’m a Woman placards to mark the anniversary of Martin Luther King’s dispute in Memphis.

“A lot of people took the time to stop and talk to us about it and I think that there is a lot of support for us.

“We have chosen the anniversary of the Memphis sanitation strike as many parallels can be drawn with regard to the treatment, terms and conditions of our members in the Marks and Spencer distribution facility in South Marston.”

The law which allows companies to pay staff doing the same job a different wage is under Section 10 of the Agency Workers Regulations – otherwise known as the Swedish derogation.

While the practice is legal, GMB members say it is unethical and against the ethos of Marks And Spencer.