Speaking at a Labour conference fringe meeting in Liverpool, alongside Siobhain McDonagh MP and Torsten Bell of the Resolution Foundation, John Hannett – Usdaw General Secretary says: “I would like to congratulate Siobhain on the excellent campaign regarding the impact of the introduction of the Government’s so-called National Living Wage on existing terms and conditions. This has affected non-unionised and unionised workplaces.

“Our challenge as a trade union is to negotiate workers onto the real Living Wage and that can only happen if we recruit and organise staff into the union; but we also need positive engagement from employers. Together we can help grow the business, whilst ensuring staff are treated with respect, involved in decision making and properly rewarded for their work.

“So I say to employers like M&S and B&Q, who currently don’t recognise Usdaw, to drop their opposition to staff being represented by an independent trade union. If you are genuinely a good employer, who treats your staff well and with respect, you have nothing to fear from an independent trade union. Usdaw is a problem solver not a problem causer.”

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 430,000 members. Membership has increased by more than 17% 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