In contrast, Usdaw welcomes the progress Labour is making in Government to deliver a new deal for workers to help make work pay. They have already changed the remit of the Low Pay Commission to take account of the cost of living as well as ending rip-off youth rates, and announced an Employment Rights Bill in the King’s Speech to deliver significant new workers’ rights.
Inflation remains above the target rate of 2%, which adds to the misery many workers have suffered over the last three years. An Usdaw survey of 6,727 key workers in the retail, pharmaceutical, funeral care, warehouse and distribution sectors, conducted during June 2024, found that:
• 73% feel financially worse off than last year.
• Over a third struggle to pay for gas and electricity every month.
• Six in ten are relying on borrowing to pay everyday bills.
Paddy Lillis – Usdaw general secretary says: “Too many low-paid workers are still struggling to make ends meet, as the Tory cost of living crisis proves to have a long tail. Inflation first went above the target rate in May 2021 and peaked in double figures for six months. Workers were left exposed as wages failed to keep pace with rising prices. They needed lasting solutions with a new deal for workers to tackle insecure employment and make sure work provides the dignity of decent pay.
“The new Labour Government has started to deliver that new deal, which Usdaw long campaigned for. They have changed the Low Pay Commission’s remit so that for the first time they will take into account the cost of living, alongside ending rip-off youth rates. We now look forward to the publication of the Employment Rights Bill that seeks to tackle insecure, low-paid employment. This is the transformational change that the country voted for, after 14 years of Tory chaos, austerity and attacks on workers’ rights.”
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
Office for National Statistics Inflation Bulletin - August 2024:
https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/bulletins/consumerpriceinflation/august2024
Labour’s plan to make work pay - delivering a new deal for working people: https://labour.org.uk/updates/stories/a-new-deal-for-working-people
For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter/X @UsdawUnion