John Hannett – Usdaw General Secretary says: “Young Workers’ Month is an opportunity for union reps, activists and campaigners to reach out and inform young workers about trade unions and ensure that there are sufficient opportunities for young people to get involved and play an active role in our movement.
 
“It’s also a chance for unions to demonstrate to young people that we are campaigning on the issues they care most about and that we are relevant to their lives; issues like unemployment, underemployment, insecure work, zero-hours contracts, bogus self-employment and low pay. The TUC has a crucial role in reaching out to young workers not currently in a trade union, to help them tackle these and other issues.
 
“We are running our Usdaw Young Workers’ Week from 7 - 11 November, timed to be part of the wider TUC month-long campaign throughout November. The Usdaw week will see our young reps and activists organising events across the UK to campaign for the National Living Wage to be paid to those under 25s.
 
“There is no doubt that young workers are better off in a trade union. The work of the TUC over the coming month and beyond, alongside initiatives like Usdaw’s Young Workers’ Week, will help spread that important message.”

Notes for editors:

Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fourth biggest and the fastest growing trade union with over 435,000 members. Membership has increased by more than 10% in the last five years and by nearly a third in the last decade. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the Union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemicals and other trades.

For Usdaw press releases visit: www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter @UsdawUnion