Retail trade union Usdaw is calling on the Government to use the
last parliamentary term before a general election to bring
forward a long-awaited and overdue employment bill to help
workers struggling to make ends meet in a cost of living crisis;
along with a bill to protect shopworkers from abuse, similar to
the existing law in Scotland.
Paddy Lillis – Usdaw General Secretary
says: “Tomorrow’s Queen’s Speech is a last chance
for the Government to demonstrate they understand the depth of
the cost of living crisis, something they have failed to do so
far. We are calling for them to focus on improving employment
rights, which is a manifesto promise they have so far failed to
deliver, to ensure that workers have the dignity of decent pay
and put an end to insecure employment.
“Labour has already pledged to deliver the new deal Usdaw has
long campaigned for. If the Government again fails to bring
forward their promised employment bill, it will be yet another
demonstration that only Labour has the policies and ideas that
can put the country back on track and deliver the change our
members desperately need.”
The next Labour Government will deliver a new deal that
includes:
- Making work pay with a genuine living wage that people can
actually live on.
- Banning zero-hours contracts.
- Ending fire and rehire.
- Giving workers basic rights from day one.
- Going further and faster in closing the gender pay gap.
- Making work more family friendly.
- Tackling sexual harassment.
- Ensuring that unions can stand up for their members.
- Boosting collective bargaining, to improve workers’ pay,
terms and conditions.
Paddy Lillis continued: “We are facing an
epidemic of retail crime, with police recorded incidents of
shoplifting having increased by 25% in the last year. That is
hugely concerning because shoplifting is not a victimless crime,
theft from shops has long been a major flashpoint for violence
and abuse against shopworkers. Conservative MPs repeatedly
opposed extending the Scottish protection of workers law and the
Government has so far only fiddled around the edges by changing
sentencing policy.
“Much of our concerns around growing retail crime is about
underfunding of the police and getting the offenders to court in
the first place. There are too few officers patrolling the
streets and our members tell me they very rarely see uniformed
officers in their stores. The policy of issuing fixed penalty
notices for thefts under £200 leads to too few of these crimes
being investigated and prosecuted. Labour has committed to give
shopworkers ‘Freedom From Fear’ and deliver on our campaign
objectives. Tomorrow we’ll see if the Government can match those
plans.”
The next Labour Government is committed to:
- 13,000 more neighbourhood police with guaranteed patrols in
town centres,
- Respect Orders to ban repeat offenders.
- A standalone offence for assaulting a worker serving the
public, as already exists in Scotland.
- Ending the £200 threshold for investigating and prosecuting
shop theft.
Notes for editors:
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied
Workers) is the UK's fifth biggest trade union with
over 350,000 members. Most Usdaw members work in the retail
sector, but the union also has many members in transport,
distribution, food manufacturing, chemical industry and other
trades www.usdaw.org.uk
Usdaw’s Freedom from Fear Campaign seeks to
prevent violence, threats and abuse against workers by engaging
the public, shopworkers and the Government. www.usdaw.org.uk/Campaigns/Freedom-From-Fear
Protection of Workers (Retail and Age-restricted Goods
and Services) (Scotland) Act 2021: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2021/6
