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Only a Labour Government will deliver on the aims of Usdaw’s New Deal for Workers campaign

Date: 14 September 2021 Retail trade union Usdaw has welcomed today’s address by Keir Starmer to the annual Trades Union Congress. Speaking to the online conference, the Labour leader committed the next Labour Government to delivering a range of improved rights for working people.
The ‘new deal for workers’ commits Labour to:
  • a minimum wage of at least £10 an hour;
  • rights for all workers from day one, including holiday pay, parental leave and protection from unfair dismissal;
  • the right to flexible working and requesting shifts that fit around family life;
  • banning ‘fire and rehire’;
  • an end to zero-hours contracts, replacing them with contracts that reflect the hours people actually work
  • increased and guaranteed sick pay and
  • more workers covered by a collective agreement. 
Paddy Lillis – Usdaw General Secretary says: “Keir Starmer has today set out a comprehensive package of reforms that will deliver security and opportunity for workers, alongside quality jobs that make work pay. This new deal for workers clearly demonstrates why our members need a Labour Government and that Labour is the only party that will deliver this much needed change.
 
“The coronavirus emergency has brought about a new understanding of the essential role retail workers have in keeping our communities fed, healthy and safe. Usdaw’s consistent calls for shopworkers to be respected and valued are being heard, but that must not fade into the background when this national crisis passes.
 
“There must be lasting and fundamental change to the way society views our lowest paid workers. We need Labour’s new deal for the workers employed in our supermarkets, distribution warehouses, food processing sites and home delivery operations.
 
“A new deal on pay, a real living wage, an end to insecure employment and action to ensure that retail jobs are no longer underpaid and undervalued. We welcome the commitment to guaranteeing and increasing sick pay. The pandemic has shown beyond doubt that current levels of sick pay are unacceptably low.
 
“This crisis has shone a light on the changes our society needs. We need a long lasting change in values. We cannot go back to the bad old ways of undervaluing workers. So we very much welcome this initiative from Labour, it shows that they are offering a real alternative to the Conservatives’ business as usual.”
 
Notes for editors:
 
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fifth biggest trade union with over 380,000 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.
 
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