Usdaw has long campaigned for the Government to work with the union and employers to develop a retail industrial strategy to tackle longstanding and ongoing difficulties in the sector and help save our shops and the important jobs they provide. The Conservatives simply have not listened, Labour offers new hope.
Labour will get a grip of the issues blighting Britain’s high streets and rejuvenate towns and city centres with its plan to:
Tackle anti-social behaviour and shoplifting: so that people feel safe when they go out to shop, eat or socialise in their local high street, putting 13,000 more neighbourhood police and PCSOs back on the beat scrap the Tories’ £200 rule which stops shoplifting being investigated.
Roll out banking hubs: thriving high streets need banking services for local businesses and customers. Labour will roll out banking hubs to guarantee face-to-face banking in every community boosting local high streets and shops.
Replace business rates: Labour will replace business rates with a new system of business property taxation which rebalances the burden and levels the playing field between our high streets and online giants.
Stamp out late payment: small and independent retailers shouldn’t be forced to wait months to be paid for work by big clients. Labour would introduce tough new laws to stamp out late payments and make sure more money gets to high street firms.
Revamp empty shops, pubs and community spaces: people won’t visit high streets blighted by unsightly boarded up shops. Labour will give communities a strong new ‘right to buy’ beloved community assets to revamp high streets and end the blight of empty premises.
Paddy Lillis – Usdaw General Secretary says: “The scale of the challenge the retail industry faces is huge. With very high numbers of job losses and store closures that are scarring our high streets and communities, there are substantial issues that need to be addressed. Usdaw has long called for a robust plan for the future of retail work that addresses both the immediate and urgent priorities facing the industry and staff, as well as wider measures to help deliver better jobs.
“The Tories have failed to listen and failed to act. Today’s announcement by Labour shows that only they in government will deliver the much needed and long overdue help the retail industry needs. Action on business rates, tackling retail crime and a new deal for working people are at the top of our list of priorities. Only by working together can we help to deliver the better jobs retail workers need and deserve, while securing the future viability of the industry for the benefit of customers, workers, communities and our economy.”
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
Usdaw’s plan for the future of retail work - ensuring retail jobs are better jobs: www.usdaw.org.uk/RetailPlan2023
Usdaw’s Save our Shops campaign: www.usdaw.org.uk/SaveOurShops
For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter @UsdawUnion