Joanne Thomas – Usdaw general secretary says: “We meet again in Liverpool under new leadership and with renewed determination to deliver the change Labour promised, secure the support of voters and win a second term in government. Labour have made great progress in improving our members’ lives by delivering the change they voted for in 2024, and this week we will be looking to build on their transformational achievements.
“The Employment Rights Act will help to make work better paid and more secure. We now need to ensure that manifesto promises are delivered in full, particularly on guaranteed hours contracts, so that no loopholes are introduced that allow employers to exploit workers.
“After the Government changed the remit of the Low Pay Commission, to take into account the cost of living and end rip-off youth rates, we saw substantial increases to minimum wage rates in April. Usdaw has called on the Chancellor to continue on that path to help workers deal with the long tail of the Tories’ cost of living crisis.
“The Government is tackling retail crime with a standalone offence for attacking a retail worker, along with funding additional uniformed patrols and ending the £200 threshold for prosecuting shoplifters. These measures were passed in the Crime and Policing Act and we need to see them come into force as soon as possible, to help tackle an epidemic of retail crime and attacks on workers.”
Turning to Usdaw’s motion on young workers, Joanne Thomas continued: “We are deeply concerned by the economic challenges facing young workers. Everyone deserves the opportunity to build a secure future through a good job that provides decent pay, guaranteed hours, high-quality training, pathways for progression and a meaningful voice at work.
“It is disappointing that the Government is looking to place limits on the right to a guaranteed hours contract and we reject employers’ calls to roll back employment rights for young workers. We welcome the Labour Government’s £2.5 billion investment in the youth jobs guarantee. Crucial to this is support for industries like retail, which employ large numbers of young people, to protect vital local routes of entry into employment.”
Usdaw is calling on the Government to:
Deliver on the commitment to equalise National Minimum Wage rates for workers from the age of 18 as soon as possible.
Ensure that the commitment to a guaranteed hours contract for everyone is delivered in full.
Introduce tighter regulation around automated hiring and a right for unions to be consulted on the use of AI and new technology at work.
Take forward a programme of high-quality, secure jobs for young workers right across the economy.
On Usdaw’s save our shops motion, Joanne Thomas concludes: “The UK retail sector is an essential part of our economic and community infrastructure. It has an economic output of over £117 billion per year, directly employs around 3 million people and is present in every community across the country. However, 122,682 retail stores closed between 2016 and 2025. Retail closures have left shop vacancies within our communities and workers facing redundancy. A thriving retail sector must be a central element of Labour’s Plan to deliver growth in every postcode.”
Usdaw is calling on the Government to:
Continue to recognise the importance of the retail sector within the UK’s economic and community infrastructure.
Reform business rates, tackling the uneven playing field between online and bricks-and-mortar retailers, including exempting all stores from the higher business rates multiplier.
Support the sector with the impact of the crisis in the Middle East through taking action on energy costs for businesses and customers, protecting consumer confidence.
Develop an industrial strategy and skills plan for the retail sector, as a key employer in communities, by engaging with retail workers through their unions and creating a new and effective Union Learning Fund.
Usdaw fringe meeting: 6.30pm, on Monday 28 September in Exhibition Event Space 3, on ‘Fixing the system: Rights that work for working families’. Speakers include: Kate Dearden MP (employment minister), Connor Rand MP (chair of Usdaw’s parliamentary group) and Joanne Thomas (Usdaw general secretary), and Jane Jones (Usdaw president) will chair the meeting.
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’s Plan to Make Work Pay
For Usdaw press releases visit: www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Bluesky @usdawunion.bsky.social and Twitter/X @UsdawUnion