Trade union Usdaw has seen a major leadership shift today (25 July), with three of its central officials stepping down.

General secretary Paddy Lillis, deputy general secretary Dave McCrossen, and executive and administrative officer Brendan Duggan have retired from the organisation.

They are set to be replaced by former North East regional secretary Joanne Thomas, former Southern regional secretary Rab Donnelly, and former head of the legal services department Darren Miller, respectively. Nick Walker will stay on as its central treasurer.

Lillis said: “It has been a great privilege to lead Usdaw, the union that I joined at the start of my working life and that I’ve been a part of ever since. 

“Since I became general secretary in 2018, the union has faced some huge challenges, with the Covid pandemic, the last years of an anti-union Tory Government and the cost-of-living crisis impacting on our members and their families. 

“I’m so proud of the way we have supported our members through those challenges together as a union.”

In July, Usdaw stood behind Asda as it introduced a raft of new family leave benefits for its workforce, doubling paternity leave and significantly enhancing support for parents, carers and colleagues experiencing pregnancy loss.

The grocery giant extended its maternity and adoption pay for hourly colleagues from 12 to 26 weeks, and doubled paternity leave from two to four weeks at full pay. Additionally, it made its secondary kinship carers entitled to company paternity leave.

Lillis continued: “We have returned to membership growth, putting us in a stronger position to get the best possible deal for our members. 

“We have a Labour Government that is delivering on its promises through the Employment Rights Bill, and we’ve had some important wins for our members, including the Tesco Supreme Court case, where we showed employers that fire and rehire tactics have no place in modern industrial relations. 

“None of these things have been easily won, and none of them would have been possible without the commitment and support of our members and reps, who I’m extremely grateful to.”

Click here to sign up to Retail Gazette‘s free daily email newsletter