At the weekend Usdaw published statistics from their cost of living survey of over 5,500 retail staff, mainly low-paid key workers who deliver essential services which showed that:
- 7 in 10 have relied on insecure borrowing and 60% of these are struggling with repayments.
- 1 in 4 are missing meals every month to be able to pay their bills, this has increased from 1 in 20 last year.
- Nearly three-quarters report their mental health is being impacted as a result of financial worries.
Paddy Lillis – Usdaw General Secretary says: “We are truly facing a cost of living national emergency, created by the Tories, as workers struggle to make ends meet and face crippling further increases in energy prices. At the same time we have a zombie government doing nothing to tackle this. Their record has been to offer little more than sticking plasters and now they’re doing even less than that.
“Again Keir Starmer is leading the way with a substantial proposal to freeze the energy price cap. Having originally proposed the windfall tax on energy companies, which the Government eventually adopted, he is now looking ahead and bringing forward solutions to help workers cope with price shocks yet to come.
“Our members cannot afford another huge increase in the cost of energy, as the price cap is forecast to double by next year. They are already in dire straits having to borrow to pay bills, struggling to put food on the table and suffering stress because of financial worries.
“We desperately need an emergency budget and Labour’s energy price plan should be at the heart of it. This plan shows the clear and positive difference that a Labour Government can make for our members and the country.”
Notes for editors:
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fifth biggest trade union with around 360,000 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