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Higher wages and improved workers' rights are the key to improving UK productivity says Usdaw

Date: 12 September 2016 Shopworkers’ trade union Usdaw has today welcomed a ground-breaking Smith Institute report on productivity, which points out the importance of workers having a voice in improving productivity.
Speaking in Brighton at the annual Trade Union Congress, Paddy Lillis – Usdaw Deputy General Secretary said: “For too long the debate around productivity has failed to listen to the voices of workers, so too many of the strategies to improve productivity have been based on cutting jobs, hours, terms and conditions. None of this is healthy for business, workers or the economy.
 
“Listening to workers and giving them a say on their terms and conditions, is vital to employee engagement. In the difficult times we face with Brexit on the horizon, it is more important than ever that we sustain our economy with a positive, wage-led approach. Nobody can expect a worker who is not earning enough to afford a decent standard of living to perform at their best.
 
“Every worker needs to earn at least the real Living Wage, be in secure employment, with the working hours that they need. To do that we need stronger collective bargaining rights.
 
“The Government's talk of employee representatives on boards is nothing but a smokescreen. After pushing through the Trade Union Act, a blatant attack on trade union rights, it's very clear that they do not seek true workplace democracy. We must ensure that the government is held to account for this and that we continue to push for reform of statutory union recognition.
 
“As a trade union movement we must play our role in giving workers a stronger voice, by ensuring that every workplace is organised.”
 
Notes for editors:
 
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fourth biggest and the fastest growing trade union with over 430,000 members. Membership has increased by more than 17% in the last five years and by nearly a third in the last decade. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the Union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemicals 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