The Government's next spending review should be unveiled on Wednesday 4 September, giving details of how much money will be allocated to different departments during the 2020-21 financial year. Chancellor Sajid Javid is set to announce the conclusions of the spending round in a statement to Parliament.
Paddy Lillis – Usdaw General Secretary says: “Usdaw is promoting an industrial strategy to tackle the retail crisis, but we remain disappointed that the Government still hasn’t engaged with us. Tomorrow the chancellor has an opportunity to change that by announcing and funding a government-led clear and coherent strategy for retail, to address the worries and concerns of shopworkers and our members. Usdaw’s own retail strategy should be a catalyst for a combined and concerted effort to tackle the growing retail crisis and help to save our shops.
“However, not only are our members’ jobs on the line, but their incomes have been squeezed with many low-paid workers suffering directly from austerity measures through deep cuts in funding for Universal Credits. So we need the Chancellor to immediately halt the rollout of Universal Credit to fundamentally review and overhaul the system to ensure that working people, who are already struggling to make ends meet, are not made worse off.”
“The Government has been hamstrung by ‘Brexit’ with the last spending review taking place before the referendum, delivered by then Chancellor George Osborne. In that time working people have suffered from continuing austerity policies and government drift. While we are still in the midst of Brexit uncertainty, tomorrow does provide an opportunity to end austerity.”
Usdaw’s ‘Save Our Shops’ campaign promotes the union’s industrial strategy for retail, which proposes detailed and evidence led policies, centred on three key areas:
- Economy and community - changing the economic framework on everything from car parking to rates, rents and reforming the tax system to create a level playing field between online and ‘bricks and mortar’ retailers.
- People and productivity - improving productivity by addressing low pay and insecure work, while giving staff a say in the future of the business they work for and on the introduction of new technology.
- Retail jobs are real jobs - challenging perceptions about retail work and promoting the fact that retail jobs are real jobs that make a vital contribution to our communities and our economy. Seeking a greater focus from Government on the retail industry and ensuring shopworkers are valued.
Usdaw’s industrial strategy for retail: www.usdaw.org.uk/retailstrategy
Notes for editors:
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fifth biggest and the fastest growing trade union with over 410,000 members. Membership has increased by more than one-third over the last couple of decades. 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