Joanne Thomas – Usdaw general secretary and TULO chair says: “Keir Starmer has made an immense contribution to our movement and we will always be grateful to him for turning around the Labour Party, after its worst defeat in living memory, and securing a landslide victory in an election most said he couldn’t win. Under his leadership, Labour has delivered the biggest-ever uplift in workers’ rights and substantial legislation to tackle retail crime and help prevent violence, threats and abuse against shop workers. That is the change that Usdaw campaigned for and our members supported.
“As the Prime Minister said in his speech, the question now is who is best placed to take the country forward and best placed to deliver a Labour victory at the next general election. That is why it is right that he has sought to set out a timetable for a departure.
“Usdaw’s National Executive Council will now consider the future leadership of the Labour Party. We will be looking for a leader and Prime Minister who will ensure that Labour’s manifesto commitment of a new deal for workers to help make work pay is delivered in full. We also need to see a concerted effort to bring back economic growth, to help secure jobs and pay for fundamental renewal in our public services.”
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 with around 370,000 members. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also represents many workers in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemical industry and other trades www.usdaw.org.uk
Labour Unions (Trade Union and Labour Organisation) (TULO) represents the eleven trade unions who are affiliated to the Labour Party, bringing the voices of four million workers and their families to the heart of the party https://labourunions.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