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Under a Tory 'come what may' Brexit it is workers that will 'get done' says Usdaw

Date: 02 October 2019 Shopworkers’ trade union leader Paddy Lillis has urged the Prime Minister to engage with the European Union in Brexit negotiations and back away from today’s Conservative conference rhetoric of ‘leave come what may’, ‘ready for no-deal’ and ‘Brexit done by October 31st’.
Responding to the Prime Minister’s conference address, Paddy Lillis – Usdaw General Secretary says: “With the extreme and complex difficulties of the current Brexit situation the country needs calm, collaborative and careful leadership; not a Prime Minister pointing the finger of blame at Parliament, the Supreme Court and the European Union.

“We have a reckless, incompetent Tory Government, led by a habitual liar. A Government intent on dismantling our welfare state, stripping back our employment rights and cutting our public services back to the bone. A Government so obsessed to ‘get Brexit done’ at any cost, that they will ignore the rule of law and drag the country off a cliff to get there. So it is crucial that working people’s voices are heard in all the noise and chaos.

“Creating this chaos is a Government without a majority, riven by internal party divisions and has spectacularly failed to deliver Brexit. Usdaw has consistently said we would oppose any Brexit deal that fails to protect workers’ rights, that doesn’t ensure frictionless trade or maintains the Good Friday Agreement by avoiding a hard border in Ireland.

“A no deal Brexit would be a disaster for Usdaw members, and for all working people, when we know that the Tories would use it to create a free-for-all, deregulated labour market. It would be a race to the bottom, where the lowest paid and most vulnerable would suffer the most. We need to give the people a final say on Brexit.”

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 410,000 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

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The official website of the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers