Issue 88:
Coronavirus special 6
May 2020
the bulletin of
Iain Dalton, Usdaw Broad Left
chair
Over the lockdown period a grow-
ing campaign has been running
amongst sections of the press,
MPs, local councils and some su-
permarket chains to relax the exist-
ing Sunday trading legislation.
This legislation, applicable in Eng-
land and Wales, means stores over
3,00 sq ft, primarily supermarkets,
can only open for 6 hours in total
between the hours 10 and 6pm
At least five councils, including Bel-
fast, where the council leadership
had been defeated on this 3 times
in recent years, and Labour-led
Wakefield, have relaxed enforcing
this legislation.
Then Morrisons announced ex-
tending its Sunday opening hours,
in effect openly flouting the law,
echoing how legal Sunday trading
was introduced in the early 90s
when many companies openly
broke the law which banned Sun-
day trading altogether then. At the
time, agreements led to retail work-
ers getting premium payments for
Sunday working, but these have
almost entirely been eroded away.
Since then the government have
announced a ‘review’ of Sunday
trading arrangements, following
letters from over 40 MPs, with La-
bour MP Peter Kyle one of those
co-ordinating this campaign.
Morrisons justification has been to
provide extra time for key workers
shopping early in the morning. Re-
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theActivist
tail workers are keen to make sure
all workers, including key workers,
are able to get the food and other
supplies they need. But making
retail workers, also key workers,
work even longer hours isn’t the
solution. The Sunday trading legis-
lation means that on that day most
supermarket workers know they
can spend an evening with their
families, as opposed to the some-
time widely varying shift patterns
that come with 24/7 openings.
There should be urgent discus-
sions between Usdaw and unions
representing key workers about
what arrangements best suit them,
branches and Usdaw officials
should seek to initiate discussions.
Fast tracking of staff – rather than
forcing them to come at a particu-
lar time regardless of what shifts
they have worked has been prefer-
able. when this has taken place.
Companies that don’t also run
convenience stores, such as Mor-
risons, Iceland, Lidl and Aldi, are
leading the charge, whilst those
that do like Tesco, Sainsbury’s
and Co-op, clearly recognize that
extending Sunday trading in su-
permarkets would cut across their
sales in convenience stores.
But if capacity is an issue, why
not take over stores that compa-
nies are permanently closing, and
re-open them as part of a pub-
licly owned supermarket chain. If
Tesco’s can open a new store at
the Nightingale hospital in London
in a short period of time, why can’t
members in
that be done elsewhere?
Unfortunately, the official com-
ments on Sunday Trading from
General Secretary Paddy Lillis
have been lackluster. Whilst cor-
rectly pointing out why extending
Sunday trading is a bad idea, and
why Usdaw has consistently cam-
paigned against it, Lillis stated in
response to council’s relaxing en-
forcement of Sunday trading leg-
islation that he would ‘not pursue
it at this time’. This has given the
green light to those like Morrisons
who are actively breaking the law,
and to the government to conduct
it’s review.
The Activist has launched an on-
line petition opposing extension
of Sunday trading. Usdaw itself
should be launching a campaign
upon similar lines, as well as with-
drawing its support for Labour
MPs and councillors supporting
relaxation of Sunday trading leg-
islation.
The campaign also needs to be
linked to fighting for decent pay
and contracts for retail workers.
Undoubtedly there will be some
workers, who through lack of pay
due to short hour contracts, ma
be tempted to work extra shifts to
make up for this.
But decisive action to stop ex-
tended Sunday trading would be
action by retail workers, refus-
ing to open checkouts and allow
the companies to extend hours.
Usdaw missed an opportunity to
strengthen the union in Morrisons
last year, following the big rejec-
tion of Morrisons proposed pay
offer (see Activist no. 82)
There should be urgent online
meetings of Usdaw members in
Morrisons convened to discuss
how to fight this attack in that
company, linked to an escalat-
ing campaign involving the whole
membership to debate out how
we can stop further extension of
Sunday working.
Retail workers shouldn’t
pay for the crisis!
Usdaw Activist
public meeting
Sunday 10 May at 7pm on Zoom
Meeting ID: 83580861247
■ Password: 442111
Join the union and help us
organise for
•Full pay for all workers self-isolat-
ing or laid off from day one - no to
forcing staff to use holidays
•35 hour working week with no loss
of pay
•£15 an hour minimum wage and
hazard pay
•Increase staffing levels in store to
carry out any necessary cleaning &
hygiene duties, bring back in house
outsourced cleaners
•Scrap the 2 year qualifying period -
Full employment rights from day one
•Full time contracts to all those who
want them
•Time and a half for all overtime
worked over contracted hours
•Reinstate lost paid breaks and
premium payments, double pay on
Sundays and time and a half on
Saturdays. No extension of Sunday
trading
•Trade union control over changing
staff duties, hiring and firing, and
opening time changes
•Open the books to trade union in-
spection if companies say they can’t
afford these measures
•Democratically elected committees
of workers and consumers to control
prices and rationing policies at all
levels
Join Usdaw - usdaw.org.uk/join
 theActivist
DEBENHAMS - BUILD UNITED FIGHT
TO SAVE JOBS IN IRELAND & UK
In amongst the slew of retail com-
panies entering administration,
Debenhams has been amongst
the highest profile, not least for
only recently coming out of admin-
istration in the recent past after
closures. A wave of warehouse
and shop closures went through in
2017, with a further 3 UK stores
closed in December 2019 and
a further 19 closed in January
2020.
This time the administration has
ended by it’s lenders buying out
the company (including Bank of
Ireland and Barclays who benefit-
ted from government support af-
ter the 2007/08 economic crisis),
and engaging in a slew of attacks
on worker, including the closures
of all the companies stores in Ire-
land (see separate report) Whilst
in receipt of government funds for
furloughing staff, Debenhams is
closing at least 11 UK stores and
telling workers in stores that are
closing that they will need to claim
redundancy from the government.
In Wales, where the Welsh gov-
ernment isn’t extending business
rates relief to larger stores with
rates above £0.5m, the company
has threaten to close its 5 largest
Welsh stores as a result.
We welcome the two rounds of
protests by Debenhams workers
in Ireland, and the support given
to workers by the 450+ strong on-
line rally organised by their trade
union, Mandate. With a similar
number of closures here, we have
to ask why hasn’t Usdaw at least
done the same.
In 2017 following the collapse of
BHS, Usdaw ADM adopted a policy
of calling for collapsing retail com-
panies to be brought into public
ownership. Debenhams shouldn’t
be bailed out, it should be nation-
alized to save jobs. UK workers
should take a lead from their col-
leagues in Ireland and get organ-
ised.
The following is an extract of a
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the bulletin of
report from CWI Ireland member
Ciaran Mckenna of the repression
against Debenhams Ireland work-
ers protesting over job losses (full
report published 22/4/20 on so-
cialistworld.net)
The high street shop chain, Deben-
hams, laid-off its entire workforce
in Ireland during March. Instead of
paying redundancy at six-weeks’
pay for years of service, Deben-
hams expected the Irish govern-
ment to pay statutory redundancy
which is a paltry two-weeks’ pay
per year of service. Many of the
workers have decades of service
with Debenhams and its prede-
cessor, Roches Stores.
The workers organised a small
protest outside Debenhams
stores across Ireland. These pro-
tests were respectful of the social
distancing requirements. Incred-
ibly, in Dublin, the Gardaí [Irish po-
lice] saw fit to use their emergency
powers to disperse the Debenham
workers. The Gardaí said that
the workers’ travel to the protest
was not “necessary” under the
terms of the covid-19 legislation.
Meanwhile, a completely vexa-
tious High Court hearing by two
far right politicians, taking place
not a thousand metres away from
the Debenhams protest, saw over
a hundred of their supporters con-
gregating, and drew no police in-
tervention.
The covid-19 crisis is being used
by the capitalist class to lay-off
workers and shut down business-
es. Workers are fully within their
rights to mobilise to defend them-
selves.
The trade union movement must
show bosses and the Irish gov-
ernment that there will be no tol-
erance for the use of repressive
laws to stop workers defending
their jobs and livelihoods. What
happened in Dublin today serves
as a warning to the whole labour
movement, both in Ireland and in-
ternationally.
members in
The view from
the shopfloor
Ryan Aldred, Plymouth & Districts
Usdaw branch secretary (personal
capacity)
Workers are being subjected to unfair
and unsafe conditions now; the labour
movement must address these issues
by continuing to organise and mobilise.
It is clear the union is needed to de-
fend against the lack of Personal Pro-
tective Equipment (PPE) as well as the
flagrant disregard of social distancing
guidelines by management in many
stores. There is no reason why union
members can’t meet by making use of
apps like Zoom to ensure that we can
still meet whilst not putting our mem-
bers at risk.
Plymouth and Districts General Usdaw
Branch made use of the Zoom app and
met on Wednesday 22nd April. I man-
aged to organise a branch by contact-
ing my Area Organiser and discussing
the need for the branch to meet as
members were approaching me with
lots of questions and concerns since
the lockdown took effect. That our divi-
sional officer (senior regional full-time
official) came along as a guest speaker
reflecting the legitimate nature of the
meeting.
If key workers are expected to work as
normal, why can’t we also organise in
a trade union as normal? Where this
isn’t already taking place workers
should take initiative and demand
that branches find ways to overcome
the lockdown so that union branches
aren’t effectively suspended at a time
when they are vitally important to
struggle.
Usdaw members should approach
their branch secretary in the first in-
stance and request for a branch meet-
ing to be convened. It is worth bearing
in mind that according to Rule 17 Sec-
tion 1 of the rule book Branch Chairs
and vice chairs “shall have power to
order the branch secretary to convene
meetings” if for some reason the sec-
retary refuses to call a branch meeting.
If members are not in contact with
their branch secretary, they should
contact their Area Organiser or local
union office to be put in touch with the
branch secretary or ask the local union
office to forward requests for a branch
to meet to the secretary.
The Plymouth branch discussed the
flouting of Sunday Trading laws by
Morrisons with Morrisons members
expressing their concern that the cor-
onavirus crisis will be used to further
erode conditions. Just a few days later
the Financial Times reported that sen-
ior ministers are considering a relaxing
of Sunday Trading laws paving the way
for a potential show down between the
union, employers and the government.
If this is to be the case members need
to be prepared and branch meetings
will play a key role in organising and
preparing members to put a stop to
their being stripped of one guaranteed
shorter day.
It is likely that large gatherings will not
be permissible for some time after the
initial lockdown has ended and this
is equally something that the labour
movement must respond to.
The workers’ movement needs to
make its own preparations, utilising
technology to allow union branches,
conferences and shop stewards meet-
ings to go ahead. It needs to be made
clear to bosses that workers will not
abide profits being put before work-
ers’ health and safety; dangerous
conditions should be met with walk-
outs. Likewise, it needs to be made
abundantly clear to union leaders that
inaction will not be tolerated. This is
especially so with thousands of new
members looking to the unions to step
up and fight to defend and indeed ad-
vance workers’ rights and conditions.