Jane Jones celebrates new ERA rights and calls for Labour to continue to do more to help working people

Jane Jones – Usdaw president said: “The Employment Rights Act was passed in December last year, following years of work from Usdaw, working with other unions, with Labour in opposition, and finally with the Labour Government, to deliver a new deal for working people, a reset moment for workers' rights, a once-in-a-lifetime chance to make our workplaces fairer, and to finally make work pay.

“After years of attacks from the Tories on our rights, the Employment Rights Act has been a long time coming, but after being elected, this Labour Government moved quickly to bring it into law. It was introduced into Parliament within a hundred days, and the first changes have already started to take effect. There is more work to be done, and it is being done, to bring the Plan to Make Work Pay to life, to make sure that it delivers real and practical change, for all working people.

“It's an exciting time, and an important time, for all of us who want to make workers' lives better and it's not just the Employment Rights Act. The National Living Wage has been increased this month to £12.71 and the Government is making progress towards getting rid of rip off youth rates, with an increase of 85p for 18 to 20 year olds. The new minimum wage rates mean a pay increase for 2.7 million low-paid workers. 

“We've seen real progress too on keeping our members safe at work. The Crime and Policing Bill will introduce the specific offence of assaulting a shopworker and it will remove the £200 cut-off for prosecuting shop theft. This sends out a strong message, that retail crime is being taken seriously, but there's much more to be done. Our ‘Freedom from Fear’ survey showed that nearly four in five of our members working in retail are being abused, threatened or assaulted, for simply doing their job.

“Violence is still more than double pre-pandemic levels. We know that violence and abuse is still under-reported and we know that it causes huge anxiety for so many of our members. We won't rest until all of our members are protected. That means employers taking decisive action and it means us stepping in to make sure that happens. Being safe, secure and supported at work is the bare minimum anyone should expect. So we will keep on campaigning on this for as long as we have to., because all of our members deserve to be treated with respect, dignity and fairness. That's why we exist and that's what this conference is all about.”