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Arena Magazine 2005 Issue 4 |
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Seasonal workers need Usdaw’s support
By John Hannett, General Secretary
With the holiday season in full swing Usdaw members will hopefully be taking their long awaited and well deserved summer break. Good holiday entitlement is an essential part of the employment package and thanks to the Labour Government all workers are entitled to at least 20 days holiday a year. Labour made a manifesto commitment to increase this to 28 by preventing employers including the eight bank holidays as part of the 20.
As permanent staff go on holiday the shops and factories will take on their usual influx of seasonal workers. This provides a massive opportunity for recruitment.
Although some of these workers will leave after the holiday period or return to college many more will find permanent employment at your workplace. It's important we give all of these workers the opportunity to join Usdaw - it's an investment that will pay off for both the individual and Usdaw.
Usdaw held a very successful conference on pensions in June where reps and officials came together for a very informative day of debates and workshops.
The issue of pensions is one that is here to stay and we owe it to our members to ensure they have a reasonable standard of living when they retire. This will have to come through a combination of occupational pension and state pension provision. Just how this is funded is the subject of ongoing debate.
It's a complicated issue but its importance is central to working people of all ages, young and old. Usdaw will continue to be part of the pensions debate and we will also be at the forefront of getting pensions onto the bargaining agenda.
Expect more coverage of the pensions conference in the next issue of Network and on the web site.
Tax credits have also been in the news lately. It's clear the system is under pressure and mistakes have been made.
However, as far as our members are concerned tax credits have provided a significant improvement in their pay packets. We shouldn't lose sight of this. For every overpayment there are thousands of families being given valuable cash help every week.
I also want to remind any Usdaw member that if they need advice in claiming or dealing with an over or under payment Usdaw can help. Proving once again that Usdaw membership can provide help and support on all sorts of issues inside and outside of work.
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