The Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw) is a

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, consisting of over 360,000 members. Usdaw members work in a variety of occupations and industries including: shopworkers, factory and warehouse workers, drivers, call centres, clerical workers, milkround and dairy process, butchers and meat packers, catering, laundries, chemical processing, home shopping and pharmaceutical. Usdaw relies upon a "partnership" model with large employers such as with

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...

, where the management of both the business and the trade union have "privileged access" to their counterparts. This arrangement, coupled with its actions, has been met with criticism, such as where the union seemingly presents itself as being concerned more with maintaining its positive, comfortable position and easy membership supply than that of fair representation of its members. This attitude has earned the union the pejorative backronym of ''Useless Seven Days A Week'' amongst workers and trade unionists. It is widely considered to be on the right-wing on the political spectrum, occupying the "politically conservative" section of the Labour Party. Usdaw is also affiliated to the

Co-operative Party The Co-operative Party () is a centre-left List of political parties in the United Kingdom, political party in the United Kingdom, supporting co-operative values and principles. The party currently has an electoral pact with the Labour Party. E ...

. In November 2021, the union was criticised at its refusal to negotiate with a Nottingham-based employer who was proposing a 'fire-and-rehire' policy leading to workers having to negotiate for themselves. In September 2024, Udsaw won a Supreme Court battle against Tesco over so-called "fire and rehire" plans put forward by the supermarket giant. The row erupted in 2021 after Tesco proposed firing staff at some distribution centres and rehiring them on lower pay.

History

The union was formed in 1947 by the merger of the

National Union of Distributive and Allied Workers The National Union of Distributive and Allied Workers (NUDAW) was a trade union in the United Kingdom. History The union was founded in 1921 when the Amalgamated Union of Co-operative Employees merged with the National Union of Warehouse and Gen ...

and the National Union of Shop Assistants, Warehousemen and Clerks. Some other unions have since merged in, including the

Amalgamated Society of Boot and Shoe Makers and Repairers The Amalgamated Society of Boot and Shoe Makers (AABS) was a trade union representing workers involved in shoemaking in the United Kingdom. The union was founded in December 1861 as the London United Societies of Cordwainers, bringing togeth ...

in 1955, and the

Scottish Union of Bakers and Allied Workers The Scottish Union of Bakers and Allied Workers was a trade union representing bakers and confectioners in Scotland. The union was founded in 1888, when it was known as the Operative Bakers' National Federal Union of Scotland. By the following ...

in 1978.

Publications

USDAW produces a quarterly membership magazine for members, ''Arena'', as well as a bimonthly magazine for union activists, ''Network''.

2022 annual survey report

Statistics taken from the USDAW 2022 annual survey of over 7,700 of its retail members showed that high levels of verbal abuse, threats and assaults were common in the industry. The survey also found the number of incidents has come down since the exceptionally high levels during the pandemic, but remain higher than pre-Covid levels in 2019.

General Secretaries

Since 1947, USDAW has had eight General Secretaries: :1947: Sir Joseph Hallsworth :1949: Sir Alan Birch :1962: Lord Allen of Fallowfield :1979: Bill Whatley :1986: Lord Davies of Coity :1997: Sir William Connor :2004:

John Hannett John Hannett, Baron Hannett of Everton, (born 23 June 1953) is a British trade unionist and formerly General Secretary of the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW). He was appointed a member of the House of Lords in 2024. Ear ...

:2018:

Paddy Lillis Paddy Lillis is a trade union leader from Northern Ireland. Early life Worked as a heavy goods vehicle driver at Abbey Meat Packers in Newtownabbey in the early 1980s, when he joined the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW). ...

Presidents

Since 1947, USDAW has had eleven Presidents: :1947:

Percy Cottrell Percy Cottrell (1881 – 2 February 1948) was a British trade unionist. Born in Delph, Cottrell began working at the Delph Co-operative Society at the age of ten. He joined the Amalgamated Union of Co-operative Employees (AUCE) and in 1902 became ...

:1948:

Walter Padley Walter Ernest Padley (24 July 1916 – 15 April 1984) was a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament for Ogmore (UK Parliament constituency), Ogmore. He was also President of the Union of Sh ...

:1964: Dick Seabrook :1965: Rodney Haines :1967: Dick Seabrook :1974: Jim D. Hughes :1977: Sydney Tierney :1991:

Audrey Wise Audrey Wise (''née'' Brown; 4 January 1932 – 2 September 2000) was a British Labour Party (UK), Labour politician who was the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament for Coventry South West from 1974 to 1979, and for Prest ...

:1997: Marge Carey, MBE :2006: Jeff Broome :2018: Amy Murphy :2021: Jane Jones

References

External links

* {{Authority control Trade unions in the United Kingdom 1947 establishments in the United Kingdom Trade unions established in 1947 Retail trade unions Food processing trade unions Food processing industry in the United Kingdom Trade unions affiliated with the Labour Party (UK) Trade unions based in Greater Manchester Trade unions affiliated with the Trades Union Congress Trade unions affiliated with the Scottish Trades Union Congress