Joanne Thomas - Usdaw general secretary says: “It has been a privilege to represent our members on the ruling body of the Labour Party and I am very proud to have played a part in last year’s landslide general election victory and see the new deal for workers progress into legislation, which will soon create important new rights to help make jobs more secure and better paid. We still have a job of work to do to ensure that the new deal for workers is delivered in full, and I welcome the support of delegates this week on guaranteed-hours contracts.
“There is much more that we want to see Labour achieve in order to deliver the change our members and many more voted for. I will continue to work on Labour’s national policy forum, and as the new chair of the Labour Unions organisation, to push for further improvements in workers’ rights — not least to tackle the growing threat of AI and automation. We are also fully participating in the welcome Government reviews on Universal Credit, and parental leave and pay. Usdaw, the Labour Unions and the Government will work together to improve workers’ lives and deliver the change we voted for.”
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
For Usdaw press releases visit: www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Bluesky @usdawunion.bsky.social and Twitter/X @UsdawUnion