Paddy Lillis – Usdaw general secretary says: “Workers have always been exposed to some level of technological change, but the scale and pace of this change over the last few years has been unprecedented. Worryingly, many workers are not receiving the training and upskilling they require, with research showing that 47% of organisations in Wales are currently facing skills shortages. Usdaw’s own research shows that that over half of workers do not believe they have been given adequate training on the issue of technology at work.
“We want to see improved apprenticeship funding in Wales, to better support low-paid workers in sectors such as retail. With a Labour Government in Westminster, we’ve already seen a commitment to transforming the Apprenticeship Levy into a Growth and Skills Levy. This is welcome news and we now need to ensure that Welsh businesses can access their fair share.”
Usdaw is calling on the Welsh Labour Party to campaign for:
• Significant and long-term investment in skills funding, including coordination of skills and education budgets across Wales.
• A commitment to work with the UK Government to ensure that the new Growth and Skills Levy includes sufficient redistribution of funding paid in by Welsh employers.
• The development of robust sectoral plans to support skills development across Wales.
• Positive action to tackle under-representation of disadvantaged groups, including calling on employers to report on what actions they are taking to promote inclusive training and skills provisions.
• A legal right to paid time off for retraining to encourage not just specialised skills such as data science, but greater overall digital literacy as well as broader skills development across the workforce.
• A requirement under UK legislation for employers to consult on new technology, including the use of Equality Impact Assessments which employers must act upon.
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