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King’s Speech 2024: Employment rights bill to end poverty pay and insecure work welcomed by Usdaw

Retail trade union Usdaw has welcomed the announcement of an employment rights bill in today’s Kings Speech at the State Opening of Parliament.

17 July 2024

0 min read

Delivering on Labour’s commitment to make work pay and legislating to introduce a New Deal for Working People to ban exploitative practices and enhance employment rights.

Paddy Lillis – Usdaw general secretary says: “Usdaw has long campaigned for a new deal for workers, after years of Tory attacks on workers’ rights. We are delighted to see our successful campaign start its legislative journey under a new Labour Government. For too long, too many workers have struggled with low pay and insecure employment. Labour’s new deal will help ensure that workers benefit from the Government’s drive for economic growth and provide security in employment.

“The weakness of our employment rights framework was fully exposed by the Tory three-year cost of living crisis. Usdaw’s own survey, last month, found that key workers in the retail industry, delivering essential services in the food supply chain, were themselves struggling to make ends meet. Nearly three-quarters said they are now worse off than at the 2019 general election. Today’s King’s Speech is the beginning of the end of a failing economy that does not work for working people.”

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

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