Usdaw welcomes the Government’s parental leave review and urges ministers not to ‘tweak around the edges’

As part of her address to delegates, Joanne Thomas – Usdaw general secretary said: “There is a cost of living crisis biting at the heels of all workers. We all know energy and food have gone up faster than wages, and the financial support simply is not meeting the needs of working parents. Labour’s Parental Rights Review is opening up the conversation about how we can remodel our system to better support our working parents. We are very clear about what we want out of this review. We need to see some significant change. Now is a time to be bold. To make changes that could transform the lives of working parents. Fixing the current system will take time and investment, but doing nothing, or just tweaking around the edges, has a far greater cost.”

Kate Dearden’s remarks included: “In our call for evidence, we’ve had over 1,500 people get in touch to share their experiences and we’ve continued that engagement. It’s been really valuable because we’re looking at the system as a whole. It’s not been done before on this scale and we do recognise the challenge and opportunity, not just on rights, but leave and pay too. It isn’t simply about how many weeks people are entitled to; it’s about whether people can actually afford to take that leave, whether they’re eligible for it, whether they can navigate the system. We want parents to spend time with their children, we want people to stay connected at work and progress their careers, and we want fathers and partners to be able to play a full role in caring. This is so important to the Government. We have already made progress through the Employment Rights Act and there is more to do to make working parents’ lives better.”

Connor Rand added: “Kate and her colleagues in Government are ensuring that we deliver on the historic mission of our union movement and the founding principles for which our Party was created: a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay. That whatever job you do, that work is a source of security and pride for you and your family. For too long, our economy hasn’t worked for working families. The Employment Rights Act is the start of us turning the tide and there is much further for us to go. Usdaw has played a leading role in pushing for parental rights through collective bargaining, which is genuinely sector leading, which leads to much better staff retention and happier employees. Our country and economy can change for the better with rights that work for working families.”