In an interview with Left Foot Forward, Joanne Thomas praised Labour for taking action on it
Retail workers in the UK face ‘abhorrent abuse’ at work, Joanne Thomas – general secretary of retail union USDAW – has claimed. Thomas made the comments in an interview with Left Foot Forward at this year’s Trades Union Congress (TUC) in Brighton.
Speaking to Left Foot Forward about her union’s ‘Freedom From Fear’ campaign, Thomas said: “The Freedom From Fear campaign we’ve been running for decades now [is] really to highlight the abhorrent abuse that retailers get doing their jobs, whether it be verbal abuse, physical abuse or anywhere across that spectrum. It can be a awful place to work.”
She went on to say: “We’ve been campaigning for a standalone offence now similar to what you have when you assault a police officer,” before adding: “This is something that we’re really pleased that is going to happen under Labour – it’s a preventative measure to support our members in retail and something that we can build upon to just try to make their workplaces as safe as possible.”
This isn’t the only thing that Thomas praised Labour for since they entered government last summer. While acknowledges there have been “challenges” for the government since then, she nonetheless told Left Foot Forward she is positive about their record so far.
Thomas said: “For me and I think in the trade union movement in general, the Employment Rights Bill is the [most] significant, most valuable uplift workers have had in a very very long time. That’s something that – when it’s implemented – will make a huge difference on improving workers’ lives, from a really great financial perspective, particularly in USDAW because we represent low paid workers that are on small contracts. So by creating fair contracts, they can get access to better mortgage rates, better rates on loans – all of the things that flow from a contract, they make a huge difference from a financial perspective.
“But also just having that security from getting the rights to sick pay from day one, not being fearful of not being able to go into work because it’s going to cause you financial hardship are just some of the elements that USDAW members in particular would benefit from.”
She went on to say: “I think we have to recognise that’s being delivered from a Labour government. I don’t think it would be delivered from any other party, I think we have to accept that.”
Chris Jarvis is head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward
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