USDAW is involved in politics because it is a crucial part of improving members’ lives. The real issues affecting our members’ lives are at the core of the campaigns around which we organise.

Industrial organising provides the foundation upon which we negotiate with employers and represent our members’ interests in the workplace; political organising provides the foundation upon which we campaign to change the country and represent our members’ interests in society. These are two sides of the same coin, used together to improve the lives of Usdaw members.
 
Usdaw is affiliated to the Labour Party because it is our party and provides us with the only means by which to secure a government on the side of our members, working people, and the most vulnerable in society. By using our collective strength we can campaign and win, delivering a Labour government that will deliver for our members.
 
We have known that it’s been coming for a while now. This Conservative government, which ran out of ideas long ago, has limped onwards for far too long, but they can no longer avoid a general election and a chance for us to remove them from government.

It is a chance we must take. We have endured five different Conservative prime ministers in 14 years, but as much as they pretend they are different, that they have changed, we know it’s not true.
 
This government’s record is one of failure and incompetence. A record that has made the lives of Usdaw members harder, at work and at home. The only way to secure real change is to remove this government and vote for a Labour government that is on our side, fighting to deliver the policies, pledges and commitments that will make our members’ lives better. This will not come easy, which is why all in the trade union movement and on the left of politics must play our part.
 
Since the Conservatives came to power in 2010, life for working people and their families has significantly worsened by almost every measure we have.