In taking the Chair at TULO’s annual general meeting tonight in Liverpool, ahead of Labour’s annual conference, Joanne has committed to:
• Defend and strengthen the Labour-union link, which ensures that Labour is uniquely the true party of working people.
• Fight to deliver the New Deal for Workers in full, to change the lives of working people for the better.
• Take on Reform, who will never deliver for working people.
Joanne Thomas – Usdaw general secretary and new chair of TULO says: “It is a true honour for me to be the first woman to chair TULO and I’d like to pay tribute to my predecessor Mick Whelan who, together with all the affiliated unions, helped deliver a landslide Labour victory and a new deal for workers.
“The Labour Party was founded by trade unions because we knew we needed representation in Parliament from a party that truly speaks for and represents working people, and that governs in their interests. Over the decades, that has resulted in workers benefitting from the NHS and social security; equal pay; health and safety legislation; the minimum wage and much more.
“This Labour Government is delivering the New Deal for Working People, the biggest upgrade in employment rights in a generation. Drawn up in partnership with Labour’s affiliated trade unions, it’s the Labour-union link in action. The Employment Rights Bill will be transformational, but it’s just the start. It has to be implemented fully and robustly, and Labour must make good on other crucial commitments in the New Deal.
“Every poll shows support for strengthening employment rights in every constituency in the country. Delivering the New Deal in full, so it changes the lives of working people for the better, must be at the heart of Labour’s plan to change the country.
“I’ll take the fight to Reform because, unlike Labour, they’ll never deliver for working people. Sowing division and turning people against each other, while putting our NHS at risk and voting to block workplace rights, may get Reform headlines - but Reform would be an absolute disaster for working people. That’s why I’ll work across our movement to expose Reform lies, to make sure our members know what they really stand for and that they will never deliver for us and our communities.
“The Labour-union link brings the collective voices of nearly 4 million working people to the heart of our party. It is what makes Labour the party of working people. I’ll defend the link when it comes under attack and I’ll work to build the link and strengthen the collective voice of unions in our party, because better decisions are made when unions have a seat at the table.”
Notes for editors:
Labour Unions (National TULO) represents the 11 trade unions who are affiliated to the Labour Party, bringing the voices of 4 million workers and their families to the heart of the party https://labourunions.org.uk/
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
For Usdaw press releases visit: www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Bluesky @usdawunion.bsky.social and Twitter/X @UsdawUnion