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Labour's 'new deal for working people' welcomed by Usdaw

Date: 26 July 2021 Retail trade union Usdaw has welcomed today’s launch of a ‘new deal for working people’ by Labour leader Keir Starmer and deputy leader Angela Rayner, who are pledging to fundamentally change our economy and make Britain the best place to work.
The new campaign sets out how Labour’s new deal for working people is based on five principles of good work:

Security at work: Better and fairer workplaces by giving workers full rights from day one on the job; outlawing fire and rehire; a new right to work flexibly, and strengthened trade unions.

Quality jobs: A strong industrial strategy that uses government contracts to support British businesses so we buy, make and sell more in Britain, delivering investment in high-quality, well-paid green jobs in the industries of the future.

A fairer economy: A fair and level playing field on tax between the multinational giants and local businesses on the high street, along with tackling harassment and discrimination at work so everyone can get on.

Opportunity for all: A jobs promise for young people with a guarantee of quality education, training or employment. Also create tens of thousands of apprenticeships by ending the Treasury raid of the apprenticeship levy.

Work that pays: Make sure that work pays wages that people can raise a family on with a real living wage of at least £10 an hour, and more workers covered by collectively agreed deals which boost pay.

Paddy Lillis – Usdaw General Secretary says: “The coronavirus emergency has brought about a new understanding of the essential role retail workers have in keeping our communities fed, healthy and safe. Usdaw’s consistent calls for shopworkers to be respected and valued are being heard, but that must not fade into the background when this national crisis passes.
 
“There must be lasting and fundamental change to the way society views our lowest paid workers. We need a new deal for the workers employed in our supermarkets, distribution warehouses, food processing sites and home delivery operations.  A new deal on pay, a real living wage, an end to insecure employment and action to ensure that retail jobs are no longer underpaid and undervalued.
 
“This crisis is bringing about fundamental changes to the way we live, it’s changing our values and shining a light on the changes our society needs. We cannot go back to the bad old ways of undervaluing workers. So we very much welcome this initiative from Labour, it shows that they are offering a real alternative to the Conservatives’ business as usual.”
 
Notes for editors:
 
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fifth biggest 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.
 
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