Organised by the Trades Union Congress (TUC), this year the focus is tackling sexual harassment at work; calling on employers to take reasonable steps to protect workers from sexual harassment and victimisation. Most employers rely on individuals reporting cases, but this is not enough. 4 out of 5 people don’t feel able to report sexual harassment to their employer.
 
Paddy Lillis – Usdaw General Secretary says: “We very much welcome the TUC focus on sexual harassment. It complements Usdaw’s own ‘Call It Out’ campaign, which gives reps the tools they need to create harassment free, safe and supportive workplace environments.
 
“Our aim is to promote workplace campaign activity on this issue and let Usdaw members know what sexual harassment is and how to report it. Current laws put the onus on individuals to report such incidents, but it should not be down to the individual to prevent and manage their harassment alone. Employers need to take steps to protect their staff from harassment arising in the first place; it should be a part of their duty of care.
 
“The Usdaw and TUC campaigns make it clear that a worker doesn’t have to be on the receiving end of sexual harassment to complain about it.  If they see or hear sexual harassment taking place they too can ‘call it out’”.
 
Notes for editors:
 
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fifth biggest union with over 400,000 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.
 
Heart unions week: https://www.tuc.org.uk/sites/default/files/HUactivistpack2020.pdf
 
Usdaw’s ‘call it out’ campaign: https://www.usdaw.org.uk/Campaigns/Sexual-Harassment
 
For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter @UsdawUnion