Usdaw has submitted motions on one-sided flexibility with a call for a new deal for workers, along with one on childcare, and amendments about affordable housing and issues around the introduction to workplaces of automation, new technology and artificial intelligence.
 
Paddy Lillis - Usdaw General Secretary says: “Our weak employment rights framework is at the heart of the cost-of-living crisis. One-sided flexibility, that benefits employers at the expense of workers, means it is too easy and too cheap for managers to change shifts or cut hours at short notice. Furthermore, short and zero-hours contracts rob workers of financial certainty. Workers need more security, more predictable working patterns and more hours and that must be delivered as part of a comprehensive new deal for workers.
 
“Childcare is a trade union, economic and equality issue. However, like so much under the Tories it is broken. Accessible, affordable and available childcare would have a huge impact for low income working families, empower parents and transform the life chances of children. We are calling for a campaign for a childcare system that works for working people.
 
“Our housing market is in crisis and too many workers have no realistic prospect of finding an affordable, secure and good quality place to live. The Government must accept responsibility and ensure workers have access to genuinely affordable homes. That means building high-quality and affordable social housing to provide the stability that workers need.
 
“Rapid development in artificial intelligence and the increasing use of automated decision-making processes by employers are fundamentally changing the world of work as we know it. However, the protections offered to workers are not keeping pace. To truly safeguard workers from the risks of the tech revolution, we need to deliver a proper legal framework that: protects workers’ rights; gives union members a voice, and provides real safeguards against discrimination.
 
“We look forward to a week of debate and policy making to improve workers’ lives and deliver for our members. In the cost of living crisis we urgently need a new deal for workers, which is why we welcome Labour’s pledge to enact one in their first one hundred days of coming into government. That’s why we need a general election, so that our members can get the change they so desperately need.”
 
Notes for editors:
 
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fifth biggest trade union with over 350,000 members. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemical industry and other trades www.usdaw.org.uk
 
For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter @UsdawUnion