Issue 93:

June 2020

the bulletin of
theActivist members in

SUNDAY TRADING -
Join the union and help us
organise for

GOVERNMENT BLINKS FIRST

•Full pay for all workers self-isolat-
ing or laid off from day one - no to
forcing staff to use holidays
•35 hour working week with no loss
of pay
Iain Dalton, Usdaw Broad Left ing of Sunday opening restrictions, work less hours on Sunday (only •An immediate £12/hour minimum
Chair such as several local authorities 3% wanted to work longer hours!) wage as a step to £15 + hazard pay
relaxing enforcement and Morri- It is this anger amongst retail •Increase staffing levels in store to
Leaked reports emerged in mid- sons blatantly opening for longer workers which has led to the re- carry out any necessary cleaning &
June that the government was hours, summed up in many Usdaw bellion amongst back-bench Tory hygiene duties, bring back in house
looking at relaxing Sunday trading members receiving athe latest is- MPs which means these propos- outsourced cleaners. Full time con-
legislation for a year. This was ru- sue of Usdaw’s Arena magazine als are not going to be in the Coro- tracts to all those who want them
moured to be proposed very quick- hitting members doormats with Us- navirus Recovery Bill now. •Scrap the 2 year qualifying period -
ly in the government’s Coronavirus daw General Secretary Paddy Lillis However, given Boris Johnson has Full employment rights from day one
Recovery Bill. saying the union “are not going to been stating to the press that “... • Scrap performance targets
The current legislation means pursue this”! we will keep measures such as •Time and a half for all overtime
large retail stores can only open Fortunately, since that announce- extending Sunday trading hours worked over contracted hours
for 6 hours on a Sunday between ment campaigning has been under review...” then to declare •Reinstate lost paid breaks and
the hours of 10am and 6pm, giv- ramped up with a tool for members a conclusive victory is premature. premium payments, double pay on
ing many retail workers one even- to write to MP’s, and a survey of Equally concerning is Lillis’ em- Sundays and time and a half on
ing they know they can spend with members. phasis on a ‘tripartite recovery Saturdays. No extension of Sunday
their family. The survey revealed that an over- plan’ which sounds like a new ver- trading
Until this announcement Usdaw of- whelming 92% of members are op- sion of partnership. •Trade union control over changing
ficially had a position of passivity in posed to longer opening hours for The experience for Usdaw mem- staff duties, hiring and firing, and
the face of the growing undermin- large stores, whilst 51% wanted to bers of ‘partnership working’ over opening time changes
the last few decades have dem- •No lifting of any social distancing
onstrated this was a recipe for measures without agreement from
putting the interests of employers elected local health and safety com-
first and those of retail workers mittees/reps
last. •Open the books to trade union in-
Usdaw must take an independ- spection if companies say they can’t
ent stance in defence of retail afford these measures
workers - demanding decent pay, •Democratically elected committees
terms and conditions and backing of workers and consumers to control
that up with action where neces- prices and rationing policies at all
sary. Where companies enter cri- levels
sis, we should demand they are Join Usdaw - usdaw.org.uk/join
brought into public ownership to
save jobs, as per ADM policy. Join the fightback

2M DISTANCING - SAFETY BEFORE PROFIT JOIN THE

The government announcement of likely with 1m distancing as com- The Activist argues that Usdaw SOCIALISTS
relaxing the 2m distancing rule to a pared to 2m. should be empowering it’s health Visit socialistparty.org.uk/join
1m+ where that is impractical is a It is welcome that Usdaw General and safety reps to challenge any or call
020 8988 8777
clear indication of their drive to put Secretary Paddy Lillis has called for moves to weaken 2m distancing in or text your
profits of high street bosses, par- 2m social distancing to be main- stores, upto and including encour- name and
ticularly in the still closed hospitality tained in the retail sector, but the aging workers to take up their right postcode to
07761 818 206
sector, before the safety of workers. question is, beyond strong words, to retreat to a place of safety if nec-
to find out more
According to scientists, transmis- what will the union be doing to keep essary. We will deal with this issue about joining us today
sion of Covid-19 is 30 times more this the case? further in future issues.

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 theActivist the bulletin of members in

LOW PAY - FIGHT FOR AT LEAST £12/HOUR NOW!

Ryan Aldred, Usdaw Plymouth and Dis- don to reflect the higher cost of liv- ognition agreements with, has a strength. If that collective strength
trict General Branch secretary (per- ing. During the current pandemic wage rate of £10 an hour, despite were to be harnessed through the
sonal capacity) this should be accompanied by a it being union policy for the last development of serious campaigns,
hazard bonus for workers risking four years. up to and including a programme
Usdaw, recently launched its ‘New their health, both in key sectors If there is to truly be a ‘day of reck- of industrial action, it would quickly
Deal for Workers’ campaign, ex- and working for non-essential re- oning’, the union should immedi- shift the balance of power out of
panding on its previous ‘Time For tailers that have resumed trading. ately enter into negotiations with the bosses’ hands and into the
Better Pay’ campaign, with ad- However, while this is what we recognised employers and demand hands of workers themselves.
ditional demands, many of which would put forward as a minimum, wages which reflect members’ sta- The British Retail Consortium has
the Socialist Party welcomes. we would argue that there is room tus as key workers. This means tak- said that now is “not the right time”
But it falls short of the proposi- for larger increases, particularly ing up the call for £12 an hour for to be arguing for wage increases.
tion raised at Usdaw’s 2019 an- in the supermarket sector. Super- all workers. For the bosses there will never be a
nual delegate meeting (ADM) for markets reported record sales Where supermarket bosses refuse, right time to deny them their profits
a workers’ charter, tailored to ac- during the pandemic, making £2 the union should demand that fi- by demanding decent wages. For
count for specific aspects in rela- billion extra in the month of March nancial books be opened to trade young people on poverty wages in
tion to different sectors. It was alone. As one Tesco worker put it, union scrutiny while building a se- particular, and for low paid work-
also argued that the development “we deserve to be on double our rious and sustained campaign of ers in general, waiting for a better
of a workers’ charter should be ac- wages”. strike action to secure better pay time is not an option because the
companied by a strategy to build Some employers will try to recoup and conditions. rent and bills won’t wait. Now is the
and gain recognition in other big losses to their profits by cutting In the last decade, a rejected pay time to boldly demand a new deal
retailers, particularly Aldi and Lidl. hours to make up for an increased offer from Tesco wasn’t followed up for workers. Now is the time to de-
One of the central demands is a hourly rate. Therefore, any new with industrial action, and similarly, mand an immediate £12 an hour
minimum wage of £10 an hour. We deal for workers has to raise de- more recently when a pay offer was minimum wage for all, and even
of course welcome any and all in- mands for a higher minimum wage decisively rejected by Morrisons higher wages for the key workers
creases in the minimum wage. But alongside a call to end zero and members. which through this pandemic have
it’s important to note that the £10 low-hours contracts. Despite its weaknesses, Usdaw shown that they keep society run-
an hour commitment was agreed Usdaw’s general secretary Paddy has over 400,000 members, which ning.
at Usdaw’s ADM back in 2016. At Lillis recently claimed that there is an immense source of collective
the 2019 ADM it was pointed out would be a “day of reckoning” on
JJ NSSN Usdaw members protest against Debenhams job cuts
that the minimum wage demand low pay. As leader of one of the
needed to be revisited as “it will UK’s largest trade unions, which Supporters of the National Shop Photos from protests in Southamp-
be relatively less than when we organises in one of the lowest- Stewards Network held protests ton, London and Leeds below.
first adopted the call several years paid sectors of the economy, he is outside Debenhams stores in
ago.” well placed to initiate such a reck- Leeds, London, Plymouth and
Accounting for year-on-year infla- oning. Southampton against the compa-
tion from 2016 to 2019, the figure Unfortunately, his words have yet ny’s savage cuts to jobs and stores,
rises to £11.20. Considering the to materialise into any serious ac- as part of a day of action called by
further rises in inflation for the tion, beyond launching the charter, members of the retail workers un-
first half of 2020, it comes closer which wasn’t put forward to the ex- ion, Usdaw.
to £12 an hour. ecutive council, or indeed any of These cuts include closing their
It is for this reason that Usdaw the union’s democratic structures. entire Irish retail store network
members in the Socialist Party are Currently, none of the ‘big four’ (currently being fought by workers
calling for an immediate £12 an (Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Tesco organised in Mandate, the Irish sis-
hour minimum wage, £15 in Lon- and Co-Op), which Usdaw has rec- ter union of Usdaw), 20 stores that
won’t be reopening post-lockdown
in the UK, and job cuts on top of
this at their head office.
Socialist Party members gave out
copies of the Usdaw Activist Deben-
hams special issue, which was well
received by Debenhams workers
and the public.
We called for the company to open
their financial accounts to trade
union inspection, and for the com-
pany to be brought into public own-
ership if necessary to save jobs.
usdawactivist.wordpress.com ■ [email protected] ■ Facebook: ‘Usdaw Activist’ ■ Twitter: @UsdawActivist