Tony Doonan – Usdaw regional secretary for Scotland says: “We are deeply concerned about the challenges facing retail and high streets in Scotland. Last year, several major national retailers permanently closed stores and cut jobs. The retail sector is the largest private sector employer in Scotland, providing 241,000 jobs and 9.5% of employment. Conference also acknowledges the role of the sector in paying its fair share towards public services and delivering high-quality employment.
“We welcome Labour’s commitment in Westminster to making business rates fairer, starting with reforms that level the playing field between the high street and online giants. As we move towards an election in Scotland, Usdaw calls on Scottish Labour to continue with their commitment to tackle the issue.”
Usdaw calls on the Scottish Labour Party to campaign for:
- A new deal for workers so that retail jobs are treated as proper jobs.
- Sustained investment in skills for retail workers to help meet the challenges of new technology and automation, including coordination of skills and education budgets across Scotland and lobbying Westminster for fundamental reform of the Apprenticeship Levy.
- Specific action plans to tackle retail crime and the abuse of retail workers, including more support for frontline policing in town and city centres, and significant efforts to improve reporting of incidents.
- Consistent and sustainable funding for local authorities so they can invest in their local economy, transport networks and high streets.
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 BlueSky @usdawunion.bsky.social and Twitter/X @UsdawUnion