The union is calling for the Chancellor to scrap the £500 increase in the Energy Price Guarantee, given that wholesale prices are now falling and consumers have already suffered a more than doubling of average bills since last winter. Usdaw is also calling for a new deal for workers to end poverty pay and insecure employment.
Today the Retail Prices Index (RPI) rate of inflation remained unchanged at 13.4% and has now been over 10% for ten months, since April 2022. The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rate dipped slightly to 10.1%.
Paddy Lillis – Usdaw General Secretary says: “The ongoing cost of living crisis is a key challenge for the Spring Budget. Skyrocketing prices, along with huge increases in energy and fuel costs, leave too many workers struggling to make ends meet.
“Average household energy costs are set to rise by £500 per year in April, which amounts to a near trebling since last winter. The Energy Bills Support Scheme is now also coming to an end, with the final £67 payment being made to households in March. So we are calling for that increase to be scrapped and an end to rip-off prepayment meters. Labour is pledged to ratchet-up the windfall tax on hugely profitable energy companies to fund additional much needed help.
“Beneath the headline statistics are frightening increases in the prices of basics, which hit those on the lowest income hardest. Food and drink inflation is much higher, with many staple items like milk, eggs, bread and potatoes rising at twice the headline rate. That clearly demonstrates the scale of the challenge for workers struggling to make ends meet.
“Short-term support with current cost of living pressures is crucial, but the Chancellor needs to look at lasting solutions with a new deal for workers. A new deal that makes work pay with an immediate £12 per hour minimum wage for all workers, regardless of age, as a step towards £15. Alongside this, we need an end to one-sided flexibility, along with a ban on zero and short hours contracts to provide much needed security of employment and income. Labour will deliver a new deal for workers within the first 100 days of coming into government.
“Next month’s Budget is a last chance for the Sunak Government to show that they are listening, but we are not confident that this sleaze-ridden and incompetent Government will offer the change our members need. Usdaw will continue to mobilise for a general election because only Labour has the policies and ideas that can put the country back on track.”
Usdaw’s call for a New Deal for Workers includes:
- Minimum wage of at least £12 per hour immediately, as a step towards £15 for all workers, ending rip-off youth rates.
- Minimum contract of 16 hours per week, for everyone who wants it, that reflects normal hours worked and a ban on zero-hour contracts.
- Better sick pay for all workers, from day one, at average earnings.
- Protection at work, respect for shopworkers, abuse is not a part of the job.
- Proper social security system, Universal Credit does not provide an effective safety net.
- Job security, with day one employment rights for unfair dismissal and significant improvements to redundancy protections.
- Fair treatment and equality for all workers, including equal pay.
- Voice at work, stop rogue employers refusing to engage with trade unions and end ‘fire and rehire’.
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.
Labour’s New Deal for Workers: www.usdaw.org.uk/LaboursNDW
For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter
@UsdawUnion