Joanne Thomas – Usdaw general secretary says: “It is now time for Lib Dem and Tory Peers to end their attempts to undermine the Government’s efforts to deliver a new deal for workers through the historic Employment Rights Bill. Making work pay and jobs more secure was clearly a key part of Labour’s manifesto, which was overwhelmingly supported by voters in last year’s landslide general election win. It ill becomes the Tories and Lib Dems to go against the expressed will of the people.
“Across the UK economy, insecure work is a major issue and there is clearly a need to legislate. One in eight workers are in precarious employment and that has risen by one million since 2011. Living standards have fallen quite significantly and the impact on our members is significant. This Bill helps level the playing field on employment rights to stop rogue employers undercutting those who treat staff properly.
“We hope that Lib Dem and Tory peers will hear our members’ concerns, recognise that the Government is not going to accept their amendments, do the right thing and stop undermining the vital changes in the Bill that will help bring fairness and security for workers, particularly for those currently on zero and short hours contracts.”
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
Employment Rights Bill: https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3737
For Usdaw press releases visit: www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Bluesky @usdawunion.bsky.social and Twitter/X @UsdawUnion