Usdaw delivers carers’ petition to No. 10

Shopworkers’ Union, Usdaw, today presented a petition to No. 10 in support of working carers.

John Hannett, Usdaw General Secretary, delivered the petition containing around 50,000 signatures to Downing Street. He was accompanied by two Usdaw members: Sam Sedghi, a carer, and Maria Lufff, a parent, who also brought her child along.

The petition asks the Government to provide more support, particularly to parents of older children and to carers by:

• Introducing paid leave for parents of children up to 18 and for carers.


• Strengthening the right to request flexible working, and extending it to parents of children up to 18.


• Improving Statutory Maternity Pay, Maternity Allowance, Statutory Adoption Pay and Statutory Paternity Pay.


• Committing sufficient resources to the current review of the National Carers’ Strategy to deliver significant gains for carers.


• Extending the reach of Carers’ Allowance to more low paid working carers.

John Hannett commented:

“The Government has already delivered much to support working parents and carers; however we want to help make their lives more manageable. Our members need to work to live and many have to balance that with caring for children or elderly or disabled relatives.

“We are calling on the Government to address these important issues and we will be campaigning for policies in Labour’s next manifesto at next month’s National Policy Forum. Providing more support for working parents and carers is the best way to tackle poverty in this country.”

Usdaw’s campaign has already attracted the support of 131 MPs, who have signed an Early Day Motion to parliament celebrating the valuable role of the six million carers in the UK and calling on the government to raise the £95 earnings limit.

Photographs available Thursday 3 July – contact Cherry Hamilton.

Notes to Editors:

• Contacts for newsdesks: Usdaw’s Media Officer, Cherry Hamilton, can be contacted on 0161 249 2469 or e-mail cherry.hamilton@usdaw.org.uk
• Usdaw (the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK’s fourth biggest trade union, with over 361,000 members. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemicals and other trades.
• More information and news releases are available at our online Newsroom.
• Subscribe/unsubscribe to Usdaw news releases via our online e-news service at: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/site/email.html

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