Paddy Lillis – Usdaw General Secretary Elect says: “Usdaw is talking to Lidl staff about the problems they face at work and their concerns about not being able to resolve them without trade union representation. We have had support from politicians for our campaign; it has been raised in the House of Commons by Mike Amesbury MP (Labour, Weaver Vale) and in the European Parliament by Alex Mayer MEP (Labour, East of England). Many other politicians have joined our campaigners outside the distribution centres to demonstrate their support.
 
“Yet Lidl has so far responded to our reasonable requests for initial talks about recognising Usdaw as the union for Lidl staff with a firm ‘thanks, but no thanks’. In today’s challenging retail sector, staff need to be properly represented by a trade union that is recognised by the company. Good businesses respect, value and invest in their staff; good managers do not dismiss problems and ignore the genuine concerns that employees have about their workplace.”
 
Notes for editors:
 
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fifth biggest and the fastest growing trade union with around 430,000 members. Membership has increased by more than 28% over the 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