Shops are at heart of the community.. save them
THE retail industry was in crisis even before coronavirus forced non-essential shops to close.
We were working with the Daily Mirror on their High Street Fightback campaign, with store closures and restructuring across most retailers leading to tens of thousands of jobs lost.
Usdaw launched Save our Shops calling on the Government to help turn around the sector.
This is the time for decisive interventions because for many retailers this three-month closure has been devastating.
The scale of job losses we are about to endure is eye-watering.
Retail is the beating heart of our communities, it is the largest private sector employer and contributes 25% of business rates.
But online retail is a major threat and there must be fairer taxation if high streets are to survive. Councils need the money and powers to change their town centres into community hubs.
Parking charges must be reduced and public transport improved. There has to be fundamental change to stop our high streets from disappearing.
From June 15, high street shops are going to start reopening. So the Mirror’s new Shop for Britain campaign is timely and important.
The safety of our members and the public is our top priority, so Usdaw worked with the British Retail Consortium on joint safety guidance for shops.
Safety in stores needs customer co-operation and I am shocked abuse of shopworkers has doubled during the emergency.
Shopworkers have been working hard in difficult circumstances to keep the country fed and they need a better deal.
Our key workers need to be paid a living wage of at least £10 per hour, along with job security.
People stocking supermarket shelves should not be feeding their families from food banks.
We are pleased the campaigning newspaper the Mirror has again teamed up with the campaigning union Usdaw. Together we need to Save our Shops.