Usdaw celebrates Labour delivering a new deal for workers

Joanne Thomas – Usdaw general secretary says: “On International Workers’ Day we celebrate workers’ contribution to society, reflect on the achievements of the labour and trade union movement, and look to future challenges and campaigns. Millions of low-paid workers provide essential services to help ensure the country is fed, healthy and safe, but often do not get the recognition, respect or reward they deserve.

“The Employment Rights Act is the biggest uplift in workers’ rights in a generation and delivers on many of the campaigns Usdaw has been running over the years. Retail employment is notoriously dogged by precarious employment practices and many retail workers absolutely rely on basic employment rights, particularly with non-unionised employers. So, the Act is very important to staff and, crucially, helps to protect decent employers from being undercut by the worst who exploit workers.

“As we get into the details of implementation for the remaining parts of ERA, it will be 
essential that there are no loopholes for unscrupulous employers to exploit, and that all workers benefit from these new rights. We will continue to engage with the Government on this through the consultation process to ensure that they deliver the manifesto commitment of a New Deal for Workers in full.

“Tackling precarious employment is good for the economy, growth and individual workers, who should have the decency of a wage that they can live off. Too many of our key workers are in low-paid, insecure work. They deserve more than being applauded in a pandemic; basic employment rights enforceable by law are the least the nation can do for these heroes who do so much for society and our communities. Boris Johnson promised to ‘build back better’ after the pandemic and failed, Labour is now doing just that. 

“All of these new legal rights will make a real difference if they are properly enforced, and the Government’s new Fair Work Agency provides a single body to help achieve that. However, the role of trade unions in workplaces is also crucial and the Government’s changes to trade union access and recognition will help ensure workers have a strong and effective voice at work. Employers who want to treat their staff with decency and not exploit workers have nothing to fear from this. We urge retailers to not wait for the law to change and engage with Usdaw to secure a recognition agreement through positive and productive discussions.”

Joanne Thomas continued: “No-one should feel afraid to go to work, but our evidence shows that nearly four in five of our members working in retail are being abused, threatened and assaulted for simply doing their job and serving the community. They provide an essential service and deserve our respect and the protection of the law.

“So, we welcome the Crime and Policing Act, which includes a much-needed protection of shop workers’ law; ending the indefensible £200 threshold for shop theft prosecutions and Respect Orders for offenders. Scotland already has a protection of retail workers law and the Northern Ireland Executive introduced their Sentencing Bill earlier this year, which contains a similar measure.

“After many years of campaigning alongside retail employers, it really now feels like governments are listening and taking action to give all retail workers across the UK the protections and respect they deserve. Once the legislation is enacted, we need to ensure that it is enforced by working with government, councils, police and retailers to raise awareness and improve the reporting of, and response to, retail crime.”