EACH week we are hearing of large numbers of jobs going and reports of big retail names and businesses going into administration and facing possible closure. HMV, House of Fraser, Marks and Spencer’s, Debenhams, John Lewis. These are just some of the big-name retailers in crisis.

The situation in retail is fast turning into a national crisis impacting on many other sectors such as distribution and food manufacturing. If we saw this level of job losses in many other industries we would be seeing high level government action. However, the government remains apathetic at best.

The government is wrangled in party politics that is consuming them to the point of tearing the Conservative Party apart and threatens to divide the country even further. While we have record levels of homelessness, child poverty, a crisis in social care and evidence that universal credit is contributing to the rise of people using foodbanks the government lurches from one crisis to another. Organisations like foodbanks, charities and trade unions are showing leadership where the government is failing.

The trade union Usdaw has stepped up to the retail challenge by spearheading a national Save Our Shops campaign. The campaign seeks the support of the public to convince the government that we need action to tackle the retail crisis. This is one of several campaigns that Usdaw is focusing on in the coming months.

Last year 14 shops were closing per day. Yet there was no outcry and not much more than warm words from the government when hundreds of thousands of people were made unemployed when retailer after retailer went into administration.

The government is so busy fighting fires from their own catastrophic failures like the Brexit debacle, Windrush scandal and ministers leaking confidential documents that it doesn’t have the time or energy to deal with what’s happening outside of their Westminster bubble.

That’s why it’s up to us, the trade unions to fight our members’ corner. Usdaw’s Save Our Shops is vocal and on the streets trying to raise awareness about the declining retail sector. We’re asking the government to open its eyes and look at what is happening around it. See how the loss of manufacturing and now retail is decimating our communities. How there is a real sense of despair and anger that these towns and communities are being ignored and left behind again.

The government needs an industrial strategy. One that invests in our high streets to create thriving community hubs, tackle high rents and rates, alongside car parking charges that discourage shoppers. We also need to value shopworkers and the customer service they provide with better pay, secure hours and give them a say in the business through their trade union.

Those lucky enough still to be in work are struggling to put food on the table and pay their bills. Our Time for Better Pay survey, of over 10,500 people, found that over half of people paid at, or close to minimum wage rates are missing meals, just to pay the essential bills. And three out of four are struggling to pay for the energy to heat their homes.

Yet the government crows about how employment is at its highest records. Let’s be clear, when working on the minimum wage leaves you with a choice between eating and heating, then it is clear that these rates need to rise.

Since its launch, the campaign has resonated with our reps and members and has been well received in the press. To build on the campaign we have also launched the Time for Better Pay petition. Through the petition we are seeking to force the government to respond directly to our calls in a parliamentary debate, which we will need 100,000 signatures to secure.

Not only are retail workers worried about job security, low pay, insecure hours – they are also worried about their safety at work.

Recently we released the results of our annual Freedom from Fear survey which found that there had been a marked increase in levels of abuse and violence.

The statistics are shocking and show that urgent action is required. On average a UK shopworker can end up on the wrong side of a verbal or physical assault nearly once a fortnight. Worryingly 57 per cent of shopworkers who experienced violence, threats or abuse at work did not report the incident to their employer. Nearly 75 per cent said they did not feel it would make a difference. And you can’t blame them for feeling like this when police funding has been cut to the bone and retail crime is often at the bottom of policing priorities.

So there needs to be action to help protect staff. We want the government and Scottish government to provide stiffer penalties for those who assault workers. I’m also asking everyone concerned with this issue to make their voices are heard by contributing to the Home Office online consultation or visiting the Usdaw website to complete our survey, which we will submit to the government.

The political decisions that parties, politicians and organisations make affect virtually every aspect of the daily lives of Usdaw members from rights at work to services provided by local councils, to pensions and funding for schools and the NHS. The Conservative government is hurting our members and making a mess of governing the country.

Working people need a Labour government. Usdaw needs a Labour government that looks and sounds like our members; one that understands their interests and the issues they face in their daily lives and puts them first; one that promotes fairness, equality and prosperity for all through its actions.

And we need more of our members to be actively involved in politics, voicing their opinions on the world around them, joining Labour, influencing policy and standing for election.

We need more people in politics with experience of working on the shopfloor, a distribution centre or a call centre; people who have experience of the difficulties that working people can face and understand the importance of political action to tackle social injustice.

That’s why Usdaw has launched a Political Activists Programme which will focus on organising campaign activity in Usdaw-supported target seats over a sustained period of time, providing the encouragement, training and support to turn Usdaw activists into confident and active political campaigners.

The programme will mean that when the next election comes, Usdaw members will be in a position to make the difference in the key battleground seats across the country with teams of well-trained political activists, who are familiar with the area and the local issues.

Politics is not just something that happens far away from us in the halls of Westminster, Holyrood, Cardiff Bay and Stormont. It is something that affects the daily lives of each and every Usdaw member.

None of us can afford to ignore politics completely, not if we wish to protect what we have and deliver real and genuine improvements on the issues that matter to Usdaw members. That is why we have to make sure the voices of Usdaw members are heard right at the heart of government.