Addressing Usdaw annual conference delegates Paul Nowak – TUC General Secretary said: “You should be incredibly proud that, thanks to your long-running Freedom from Fear campaign, the Government has been forced to introduce a new protection of shopworkers law. You kept up the pressure despite years of Tory dither and delay, during which thousands of shopworkers were assaulted, and you were right to keep that pressure.
 
“Shoplifting is not a victimless crime. The victims are your members who face horrendous abuse and physical assaults in the course of their work. Spat at. Punched. Threatened with knives. Our job isn’t just to call out this shocking abuse. It’s to stamp it out, once and for all. Everyone has the right to work free from fear – no ifs, no buts, no exceptions, and thanks to Usdaw they will.
 
“I want to focus my remarks on the TUC’s key priorities for the year ahead: the need to secure political change; why we need a new deal for workers, and what we can do to rebuild our movement. Last year was a momentous year for all of us. We had a cost-of-living crisis that hammered families, with one in five of your members skipping meals to make ends meet. Public services on the brink of collapse and a Tory government attacking our right to strike. But in the face of that we fought back, hundreds of thousands of workers stood together and we won together.
 
“If 2023 was momentous, then 2024 will be even more important. A general election is coming. We don’t know exactly when, but we do know this. As polling day approaches, the Tories will descend even further into the gutter. Demonising migrants, attacking trade unions, targeting trans people, scapegoating benefit claimants, using their culture wars to divide workers. So, in the face of that division let us be clear – we stand with all workers and we stand for decency, for unity and solidarity with all working people! The values that hold our movement together.”
 
“Whenever the election takes place – in July, in October, in November - we need to be ready. Ready to organise. Ready to get the vote out. Ready to fight for jobs, wages, rights and services. Now, we shouldn’t take anything for granted. Labour may be way ahead in the polls and the prize is very real. A Labour government that will deliver a New Deal for working people. The biggest expansion of workers’ rights and trade union rights in a generation.
 
“Securing political change, winning that new deal for workers, but also a clear third priority. Because whatever happens at the election, we must work to build stronger trade unions. A movement that is growing, that is thriving, that can win for workers. These have been and still are tough times for working people, but they are also hopeful times, because change is within our grasp. Not just the prospect of political change, but the possibility of economic and social change too. The chance to build a fairer, greener, more equal country. A country where workers get decent pay and a secure job. Where everyone has access to great public services and strong unions win good work for all. So, let's take that opportunity, build our movement and win for workers. Solidarity!”
 
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: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter @UsdawUnion