Addressing the conference, Justin Madders said: “We've got cast iron commitments from the leader Keir Starmer to implement the new deal for working people and it will be a first 100-day priority. Angela Rayner as deputy leader is going to be driving that on a day-to-day basis and, as the shadow of employment rights minister, I’ll make sure it is delivered in a way that makes a real difference people. I'd like to thank Paddy for being part of the original working group that created the new deal and it's certainly going to be central to our general election campaign.”
 
The shadow minister highlighted the transformative policies in Labour’s new deal for working people, which includes: banning zero-hours contracts, ending fire and rehire, extending employment rights to day one in a job, stopping employers cancelling shifts at short notice, clamping down on bogus self-employment, giving trade unions better access to workplaces to help workers get organised, repealing the outrageous minimum service levels legislation, ending the scourge of low pay by making the minimum wage a real living wage and removing exploitative youth rates.
 
Justin Madders concluded: “There are lots of things that we're going to do and it's our job to make sure voters know about our plans. Everything I've just outlined would not be delivered by a Conservative government. Labour will make a huge difference to people's lives, with genuinely the biggest levelling-up of workers’ rights in a generation.”
 
Paddy Lillis – Usdaw General Secretary said: “The reckless and irresponsible actions that we’ve seen from successive Conservative Prime Ministers has been nothing short of shameful. From their ideologically driven imposition of economic austerity, through to Partygate and the PPE scandal, to crashing the economy through Trussonomics.
 
“It’s only the Labour Party that will deliver a new deal for working people, strengthening our rights at work, making work pay and making work fairer. Labour will tackle workplace discrimination, put mental health on a par with physical health and ban exploitative zero hours contracts. Labour has been listening to working people and we can be sure Labour will continue to listen to working people.
 
“We cannot take anything for granted. We must speak with people and make the case that we’re not just asking them to vote against the Tories, but give them the reasons to vote for a Labour Government. A vote for the Conservatives is not a vote for working people, their families or their communities. It is only the Labour Party that will bring the changes that working people need.”
 
Notes for editors:
 
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is one of the fastest growing unions in the TUC and the UK's fifth biggest trade union with around 360,000 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
 
Labour’s New Deal for Working People: https://labour.org.uk/updates/stories/a-new-deal-for-working-people
 
For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter @UsdawUnion