Paddy Lillis – Usdaw General Secretary says: “Today we are standing in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, who continue to suffer in desperate circumstances because of Russia’s illegal invasion. Russian attacks on Ukraine have had a devastating impact on millions of civilians; leaving homes, workplaces and infrastructure severely damaged and causing a humanitarian crisis.
 
“I, along with my fellow British trade union leaders, have written to the Chancellor urging him to use the Spring Statement on 23 March to launch an emergency support package in response to the war in Ukraine. We need a step-change in financial support for the people of Ukraine, as well as for UK families struggling with a cost of living crisis as the conflict further drives up energy prices.
 
“The scenes we are all witnessing in Ukraine are deeply distressing and we welcome the ITUC’s call for a global day of solidarity with Ukraine today, which Usdaw is proud to support.”
 
Notes for editors:
 
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is 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.
 
Trade unions call for ‘emergency support’ from Chancellor in response to Ukraine crisis: https://www.tuc.org.uk/news/trade-unions-call-emergency-support-chancellor-response-ukraine-crisis
 
TUC  Statement on Ukraine https://www.tuc.org.uk/news/tuc-statement-ukraine
 
ITUC donations page: https://petitions.ituc-csi.org/support-ukraine
 
For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter @UsdawUnion