Budget is just the job – Usdaw

22.04.09

Shopworkers’ union, Usdaw, is hailing today’s budget as a real help to the unemployed.

“Today’s budget is just the job for thousands of workers who have recently found themselves unemployed”, said General Secretary, John Hannett.

As part of the £1.7 billion to help the jobless, Alistair Darling announced an increase in benefits staff and a guarantee of a job, work experience or training for under-25s who have been jobless for more than a year.

John Hannett continued, “Many Usdaw members have lost their jobs over the past few months, when companies such as Woolworths and MFI went into administration. Many of the companies themselves had been struggling for some time and their failures were not a direct result of the recession. However, the redundant workers find themselves without work at a particularly difficult time, when jobs are in short supply.

“That’s why we strongly welcome the £1.7 billion, announced today by the Government, to boost employment.

“The partial deferral of business rate increases will help to ease business cash flows, which we hope will mean that employers feel less need to make redundancies over the coming months.

“We also welcome the increase on the cap of statutory redundancy pay from £350 to £380, which will help a number of Usdaw members in a number of sectors who are facing redundancy.

“Usdaw campaigns tirelessly on behalf of working people, so we are pleased that working grandparents who are also carers will now have this count towards their entitlement to the basic state pension.”