MORE than half of retail and distribution workers have been forced to skip meals to save enough cash to pay their bills, an Usdaw union survey revealed yesterday.

Many of Usdaw’s members work in popular high street shops, but 59 per cent are paid just between £6.50 and £7.65 hourly.

Over 80 per cent of respondents told their union that they struggled to pay gas and electricity bills last year.

And a shocking 21 per cent reported that they “regularly” chose heating over eating, while another 36 per cent said they had “occasionally” missed meals.

“I very often go without meals so I can feed my children and put gas and electricity in my meters,” one worker said.

Usdaw general secretary John Hannett called the results a “damning indictment” of modern Britain.

Addressing around 1,000 delegates to Usdaw’s conference at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, Mr Hannett took on Tory claims that their cost of living crisis was over.

Tory Chancellor George Osborne has heralded low inflation rates as good news for families.

But Mr Hannett said: “They do not tell the whole story. They do not tell you that over the last five years our members have faced huge increases in everyday essential costs.

“They don’t tell you that since last year, gas and electricity has gone up by £65.

“This is not something we make up, the survey shows very clearly that this is what many of our members across the country are facing.”

But Usdaw’s policy statement said there was no quick fix to the crisis.

It backs working with Labour to raise the minimum wage and the TUC to win statutory union recognition in workplaces.

The union has also struck up a partnership with the Co-operative Credit Union to provide members with an alternative to payday loans.
Eighteen per cent of members had turned to high-interest loans last year, according to the survey.

Delegates also backed motions calling for more social housing and rent caps for private sector properties.

Surrey rep Jenette Williams told members that she was still living with her parents.

“People in low incomes like us are struggling to afford our own home,” she said. “It stops us leading independent lives.”