The other week, I joined Labour MPs, Parliamentary Candidates and Usdaw
activists in the House of Commons on their campaign to persuade the Government
to change Universal Credit rules that mean working people will only be allowed
to keep 24p in every extra pound they earn.
Shopworkers trade union leader John Hannett
believes that the huge 76% claw-back of additional earnings from workers on
Universal Credit is unfair and a massive disincentive for people to look for
ways to increase their income and work their way off benefits altogether.
I agree that Usdaw
is right to highlight this problem with the Government’s Universal Credit and
I hope Ministers will listen and act before the scheme is fully rolled out. Many
working people will be clobbered by this 76% marginal deduction rate for
taxpayers on Universal Credit. That will put off claimants from working longer
hours and potential second earners from working at all, perpetuating the
poverty trap for families on low pay.
Whilst I support the
principle of Universal Credit which should make it easier for people who are
unemployed to move into some work, I am calling on the Government to reduce the
net earnings claw-back, as originally proposed by the Centre for Social
Justice, to ensure that the aims of Universal Credit are fulfilled so that
extra work will always pay and to support hard working families.
John Hannett – Usdaw General Secretary says: “We are grateful for the support of Tom McNeil. Whilst Universal Credit
affects households differently, many of our members working long hours are
going to be worse off when they are transferred onto Universal Credit. That
loss of income is compounded because they will find it incredibly difficult to
make up the shortfall by working longer hours. That is why the claw-back from
additional earnings is incredibly unfair, trapping households in poverty and
creating a disincentive to work. So we want the Government to ensure that work
does pay by lowering the claw-back to 55p in the pound.”
Usdaw (Union of Shop,
Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fourth biggest
and the fastest growing trade union with over 431,000 members. Membership has
increased by more than 17% in the last five years and by nearly a third in the
last decade. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the Union also
has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemicals and
other trades.
