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John Hannett took
over the reins in Usdaw: With strong support from its members, the union continues to grow British commerce trade union USDAW continues to add to its already large membership. With 330,000 members, most of whom work in commerce, the union is among the largest in the United Kingdom. Last year, USDAW registered a net growth of 11,000 members. This was the result of a formidable organising effort, which resulted in over 80,000 new members being signed in.
The Usdaw ADM, which gathered over 1,000 delegates, was a lively event where participants spoke out on a broad variety of working life subjects. The excessive working hours, which are still common in the UK, was among the major concerns - many speakers drew attention particularly to the traffic risks caused by tired delivery truck drivers. The union's successful campaign to compel stores to close on Christmas Day received a strong support from the delegates. The ADM also called on the closing time for stores to be no later than 16.00 on Christmas Eve, as well as New Year's Eve. Freedom From Fear campaign was praised by UK government Another highly visible USDAW campaign - Freedom From Fear - was also highlighted at the union's Congress. The campaign music video - Show Me Respect - got an enthusiastic reception, touching an issue very close to the hearts of most workers in commerce. Their right to be treated with respect will be the main theme at the next meeting of the European social dialogue for commerce in Brussels, where John Hannett will present the Usdaw campaign. This will then be followed up by UNI-Europa Commerce and EuroCommerce, through a joint project. Home Secretary David Blunkett, who addressed the Annual Delegate Meeting on behalf of the government, praised Usdaw's Freedom From Fear campaign. This campaign has successfully raised the profile of the disturbing trend towards increased violence and abuse suffered by shopworkers across the UK. David Blunkett urged retailers to follow the example of the "Shop Watch" scheme in London and Norfolk's STEP (Specials Through Employment Partnership) scheme, where staff get additional leave to work as special constables and walk the beat they work in. The Home Secretary said: "The Shop Watch and STEP schemes are excellent examples of how local people can work together to make our communities safer. Retail crime can drive down a whole community. It is totally unacceptable that people are having to tolerate anti-social behaviour in their communities day in and day out."
"As retail crime is usually measured in financial terms, its impact on victims is rarely highlighted. It is not a victimless crime, as many Usdaw members can testify. Since 1995, there have been at least one million incidents of physical assaults, threats of violence and verbal abuse towards shopworkers in the UK." Respect for Shopworkers Week Usdaw is organising a National Respect for Shopworkers Week from 5th to 11th July 2004, to further emphasise the need to address the problem of violence and abuse suffered by shopworkers, and to promote greater respect of this important sector of the working population. Sir Bill Connor's important contributions to bringing USDAW into the front line of British trade unionism were recognised by many speakers, both delegates and guests. They included Home Secretary David Blunkett, the Minister for Work and Pensions Andrew Smith, and Minister Ian Mc Cartney, Chair of the Labour Party. Thanking Bill Connor for his support for European and global commerce trade union work, UNI general secretary Philip Jennings said that "USDAW recognise that in a global retail business we need global union strategies through UNI".
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At
its recent Congress - or Annual Delegate Meeting (ADM) - in
Blackpool, Usdaw confirmed John Hannett as the union's new general
secretary. The UNI-Europa Commerce vice president succeeds Sir Bill
Connor, who retired at the meeting. John Hannett was elected by the
USDAW members through a postal ballot late last year.
Responding
to this, Bill Connor said: "Through our Freedom From Fear
campaign, Usdaw urges local authorities, police forces and retailers
to work with us, in partnership, to address this important issue.
Anti-social behaviour legislation and schemes such as Shop Watch and
STEP are to be applauded as significant steps in the right
direction."