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Usdaw Conference 2022 Workers must not ‘let the Tories off the hook’ for causing the cost-of-living crisis, delegates say

WORKING people must not “let the Tories off the hook” for largely causing the cost-of-living crisis, members of retail union Usdaw insisted today.

The union’s Gillian Troughton told delegates gathered in Blackpool at Usdaw’s annual conference that the economic impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had only exacerbated the “disgusting” longer-term rise of in-work poverty across the country.

Referring to the “clap for carers” initiative promoted by Downing Street during the first Covid-19 lockdown in the spring of 2020, the Cumbrian member said: “Clapping but not paying us is not good enough.”

Usdaw’s latest cost-of-living survey reveals that two-thirds of its members are relying on borrowing to pay their everyday bills and about half are struggling to make repayments.

As inflation skyrockets and real-terms wages, benefits and pensions fall, the poll, which consulted 6,500 people, also shows that 82 per cent of working parents feel poorer than they did last year, while a quarter plan to use no heating at all in a desperate attempt to manage costs.

Delegates meeting today in Blackpool’s Winter Gardens ballroom backed a series of motions to tackle the emergency, including a call for the union to work with companies to secure discounts for Usdaw members on food, utilities and fuel.

They also pushed for a sharp rise in the income tax exemption threshold, from £12,570 to £20,000, and the scrapping of parking charges within towns and cities. 

Delegate Angela Croft demanded action as she warned that “extra worries” are worsening a mental health crisis among the union’s members and the wider community.

The West Sussex member argued that Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s decision to increase National Insurance contributions for both employees and employers by 1.25 per cent last month had only added to the crisis.

Usdaw general secretary Paddy Lillis said: “Key workers were rightly praised for their incredible contributions throughout the pandemic.

“However, their heroic efforts appear to have been quickly forgotten and they must be asking themselves, was it worth it?

“The government has so far not delivered anywhere near enough to help workers facing this cost-of-living crisis.

“We need them to agree a windfall tax on oil and gas producers, a reduction in VAT and a review of universal credit.

“If they don’t take the action we are calling for, the government will have simply failed to understand the scale of the challenge faced by millions of working households.”

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