Joanne Thomas – Usdaw general secretary says: “The Retail Trust and Usdaw have many shared values. We are pleased to be formally partnering with them after many years of us working collaboratively - not least on our ‘Freedom from Fear’ campaign, which seeks to work with employers to tackle violence, threats and abuse against retail staff.
“The Retail Trust aims to transform the lives of retail workers for good - clearly an aim we share. In the last year, they were there to guide retail colleagues through their toughest moments with their 24-hour helpline, counselling services, digital self-help services, financial aid and critical incident support. Those are valuable resources for retail workers to call on.
“Alongside working with the Retail Trust, we are encouraging retail workers to join the union and retail employers to recognise Usdaw, engage with us fully and give their staff a strong voice at work. Trade union organised workplaces are healthier, safer, better paid and more productive. That is good for the welfare of staff and better for business, which helps provide job security.”
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
Since 1832, the Retail Trust has been caring for and protecting the lives of people working in retail www.retailtrust.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