Speaking in support of the motion, Jane Jones – Usdaw president said: “Our high streets are a key part of our communities, our society and our economy. The retail sector provides the largest source of private sector employment in the economy, the sector provides the food and clothing we all need and the sector provides a key method of tackling loneliness and isolation. It is a stain on the record of the previous Tory Government that our high streets were allowed to fall into a state of disrepair. We saw shops boarded up, anti-social behaviour take over and thousands upon thousands of jobs lost.
“I am proud that last year, we elected a Labour Government to take the action that Usdaw members need. Over the past 15 months, our Labour Government has delivered an essential strategy to tackle retail crime, they have undertaken a comprehensive review of business rates to ensure fair taxation of the sector, and through the Employment Rights Bill, they have started the process of delivering the New Deal that workers in the retail sector so desperately need.
“These are the things that a Labour Government, through links with the trade union movement, can and will deliver. Usdaw welcomes this motion that recognises the work of the Labour Government. We call on the Government to keep our high streets high on its agenda, to support retail workers and the communities that we serve.”
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