Socialist Party members in Usdaw
The shop workers’ union Usdaw has its Annual Delegates’ Meeting (ADM) as many unions are rediscovering the effectiveness of strike action.
While its workers struggle on extremely low pay, Tesco has announced that it expects its retail-adjusted operating profit to remain flat this year – at about £2.49 billion!
In fact, all the ‘big four’ supermarkets, while seeing profits stall this year, are still hoovering up immense amounts. The Co-op reported operating profits remaining steady at £100 million. Sainsbury’s estimates finishing the financial year with pre-tax profits of between £630-£690 million. Morrisons, while seeing a 15% fall, still reported £828 million profits in the year to October 2022.
With the cost of living skyrocketing, Usdaw members working in the low-paid retail sector are not only feeling the pinch, but are seeing prices rise before our eyes, as our members are tasked with repricing produce. It is therefore vital that Usdaw members use the ADM as an opportunity to fight to join the countless other unions striking for better pay.
Indeed, Usdaw itself has shown what can be achieved when undertaking strike action, as the threatened strike by Tesco distribution members at the end of 2021 forced the employer to give an improved offer without a minute of strike action actually taking place!
Supermarket bosses have begrudgingly had to concede a number of pay increases as the minimum wage has been raised, but there is plenty of scope to demand wages be raised higher still. At last year’s ADM, it was agreed that the union leadership should negotiate £12 per hour as an immediate step to £15, although the conference floor unofficially voted unanimously for the union leadership to pursue £15 an hour when asked by a Socialist Party member from the rostrum.
After a number of bumper years throughout the pandemic, there is certainly scope to negotiate for higher wages which, if backed up with a strategy for industrial action, could see Usdaw members win above-inflation pay offers.
While the supermarket sector, where a majority of Usdaw members are based, remains profitable, a strategy needs to be developed to prevent the rising tide of shop closures and redundancies in retail more generally.
In the aftermath of the collapse of BHS, Usdaw agreed to campaign for struggling companies to be taken into public ownership. Such a strategy would need the political will to carry it through, which is why it’s outrageous that Usdaw representatives voted with Keir Starmer at the recent Labour National Executive meeting to block Jeremy Corbyn from standing at the next general election as a Labour MP.
A Starmer-led government will not meet the demands of Usdaw members. Tesco’s chair John Allan declared last year that Labour is the “only team on the field”; Lord Sainsbury has just made a £2 million donation, having stopped his donations to the party under Corbyn. These facts demonstrate which side Starmer will be on! This is why Socialist Party members in Usdaw argue for trade unionists to take steps towards building our own political voice, including standing as candidates the next election.
This ADM is an opportunity to hold the union leadership to account, and push for Usdaw to fight alongside other unions to win the above-inflation pay rises our members deserve.
