The President reviewed her first year in office, paying tribute to her predecessor Jeff Broome and remembering Usdaw's former General Secretary, Lord Garfield Davies, who sadly passed away in March. Amy Murphy said: “Garfield held the office of General Secretary from 1985 to 1997, when he was made Labour peer. Garfield was one of the early supporters of the National Minimum Wage, and was prominent in the fight against apartheid in South Africa.  His passing is a sad loss to the Labour and Trade Union movement, and it is right that we remember his enormous contribution to our Union.”
 
Looking to conference business, Amy Murphy continued: “The wide range of propositions on the agenda for this ADM give a flavour of the wide range of work our reps have been doing: Representing members with problems at work; supporting lifelong learning; making our workplaces safer; breaking down the stigma around mental health issues; standing up against harassment, and striving for equality, for better pay, and for stronger rights at work.
 
“And on top of all that, our campaign events have received excellent support and engagement from reps right across the country. In November, we had our biggest ever Respect for Shopworkers Week.  Over a thousand events took place all over the country, highlighting our message to employers, members and the public, that abuse is not part of the jobs.
 
“The first Save our Shops action day took place in March.  Usdaw reps and activists took our message about job security in the retail sector to the streets, and the feedback from the public was fantastic. Our Parents and Carers day last May had the theme of 'A Better Deal for Dads' and over 700 reps held events in their workplace.
 
“Reps ran hundreds of Pensions Awareness campaign days too – engaging with members on this important issue and raising our profile in the workplace. And our reps have supported thousands of members into learning with our Checkout Learning campaign events too.
 
Amy Murphy concluded: “I'm looking forward to some interesting debates on the issues that really matter to our members. Conference we have a packed agenda to get through over the next four days, remember this is your Conference, enjoy it, have your say and I will endeavour to make sure your voice is heard and chair it to my best ability.”
 
Notes for editors:
 
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fifth biggest and the fastest growing trade union with over 420,000 members. Membership has increased by more than one-third over the last couple of decades. 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: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter @UsdawUnion