TUC 2024 supports the Usdaw demand for a fundamental review of Universal Credit

Addressing delegates at the annual Congress in Brighton, Paddy Lillis – Usdaw general secretary said: “The impact the cost-of-living crisis has had on families in recent years has been devastating. The cost of basics like food, home fuels and transport has risen. Stress about making ends meet has risen and real child poverty has risen. Union members in their hundreds of thousands have been affected and, as trade unionists, we are out there day after day, year after year, fighting for higher wages and better terms and conditions at work, to improve the living standards of working people.

 “Despite this, the rising cost of living has outstripped wages and now almost everyone is feeling the financial pinch. For some the pressures are even more significant. Many working parents, particularly single parents, and people living with illness or disabilities, have felt the effects of the cost-of-living crisis even more acutely, and it is absolutely right that the very least a civil society should do is to ensure that people are supported when they need it.

 “That children and families, older people, and those who are ill, disabled or unable to work for whatever reason can live in dignity. Labour has always backed a system of welfare and social security as a safety net for those who need it, but the welfare state that the last Labour Government did so much to bolster has been ripped apart over the last 14 years.

 “As the plight of so many working people and their families became so desperate, the Tory Government didn't just sit back and let it happen; they didn't just fail to support those who needed help. They actively crashed the UK's economy, making an already desperate situation even worse. It is a disgraceful legacy left by the Tories that in 2024, so many working families are living in poverty.

 “Usdaw members like Stacey, who told us that the constant worrying about money and how she is going to get by each day, and have food to eat, is making her mentally and physically unwell. Like Katie, who has had to stop buying fruit for her children because she can't afford it. Like Syed, who told us that money worries have significantly affected his mental health. And many thousands more like them. These hardworking people desperately need a break.

 “This is such an important moment for all of us in the Labour Movement. We have finally achieved that Labour Government that we have all worked so hard for. There is light at the end of the tunnel for so many people, and none more so than those struggling on the breadline every month. We now have a duty to make sure those people, those families, do not have to keep on struggling.

 “Usdaw is calling on this Labour Government to take action and support people like Stacey, Katie and Syed. The Government has already launched a review, to develop an ambitious child poverty strategy, because as Keir Starmer said when he launched that review, no child should be left hungry, cold or have their future held back.

 “It's encouraging to see that the Government is making this a priority, and social security reform must be a key part of that strategy. That's why we want a taskforce specifically focused on Universal Credit. Not to just make small tweaks around the edges, but to make real and lasting change, as soon as possible.

 “Make no mistake, this isn't going to be an easy task; the Tories have left us with a huge mountain to climb, an economy in tatters, families in crisis, children in cold bedrooms with empty bellies. That's the shameful state of the country this Government has inherited, but I know that we can deliver the change that is so desperately needed. This must be a priority for the TUC, for the Government and for us all."