Stewart Forrest – Usdaw’s Scottish Divisional Officer said: “Devolving business rates to local authorities could have had significant unintended consequences for retail, a view we shared with the Scottish Retail Consortium and 23 other industry groups. So we welcome MSPs decision this week. However to do nothing is not enough and we need Government action to ‘save our shops’.
“Both Usdaw and the Scottish Retail Consortium agree that there is a need for a specific strategy for Scotland to save our shops. So when both the employers’ and employees’ representatives agree, we expect the government to sit up and listen.
“The retail industry is experiencing turbulent and challenging times. It directly employs over 240,000 in Scotland and around 3 million across the UK, with many more in distribution and manufacturing reliant on thriving high streets in our towns and cities. Contributing 11% of UK economic output, it is clear that the retail crisis has a huge knock on effect, impacting the UK economy and a significant number of workers.
“The scale of store closures we have seen is devastating, not just for the workforce, but also for our communities and town centres. The Government needs to show that it takes retail jobs seriously by listening to and acting on workers’ concerns.”
Usdaw’s ‘Save Our Shops’ campaign calls for urgent Government action with an industrial strategy for retail implementing policies like:
- Review taxation, commercial rents and business rates to ensure a level playing field between ‘bricks and mortar’ retailers and online retailers, providing a new framework that supports local communities and the wider economy.
- A minimum wage of £10 per hour for all workers, secure work and investment in skills and training to provide decent pay and job security for retail workers and drive up productivity.
- Give retail workers a say over the future of retail and the introduction of new technology, with a designated inclusive body that ensures the Government recognises the crucial role retail has in the UK economy.
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 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.
Usdaw’s submission to the Parliament’s Local Government & Communities
Committee: www.usdaw.org.uk/ScottishNDRBill
For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter
@UsdawUnion