"This government must stop blaming workers for its failures"
The Trades Union Congress has blasted further claims that workers’ wages are the cause of high inflation and offered the perfect response to calls for wage restraint.
Following the latest ONS labour market figures released today, multi-millionaires Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and the Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey have called for wage restraint to curb high inflation.
Government ministers and media outlets continue to conflate inflation with wage rises, blaming workers’ pay for the country’s economic woes and as a reason to deny wage rises. This is despite the IMF coming out to say soaring corporate profits were the largest contributor to Europe’s inflation.
In a perfect response to the wage restraint demands, the TUC has fired out on Twitter:
“Wages are falling by 1.7%. Public sector pay has fallen even faster at 3.1%.
“And the Bank of England’s own data shows that any pay gains are being driven by the very HIGHEST earners.
“Wages are not driving inflation. This government must stop blaming workers for its failures.”
Real-term wages continue to fall as the average pay including bonuses fell by 1.2% in the year March to May 2023, according to the labour market data, which also showed that pay rises were highest for those in better paid sectors like finance, whilst lower in sectors such as retail.
The trade union body went on to cite how nominal pay growth is only accelerating for the top 10% of earners and accused the government of ‘scapegoating workers for its failures’, pointing out that workers’ wages aren’t even keeping up with inflation, let alone driving it.
Paul Nowak, TUC general secretary said: “Working families have suffered 15 years of falling living standards. Ministers shouldn’t be forcing households to become even poorer.
“We need a credible economic plan for boosting growth, jobs and pay.
“Setting the UK on course for another damaging recession would be reckless.”
UK workers will miss out on £3,600 in pay this year as a result of wages not keeping pace with the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) average, TUC analysis has found.
This will see UK workers pushed further onto the global fringes as real wage growth in other countries across the OECD has risen by 8.8%. While analysis showed that the pay gap between the UK and the OECD will only get worse over the next year.
Real wages in the UK are currently below their 2008 levels, as the TUC cited how workers have suffered a ‘double whammy’ of high inflation and ‘historically poor’ wage growth.
Hannah Davenport is trade union reporter at Left Foot Forward
Left Foot Forward’s trade union reporting is supported by the Barry Amiel and Norman Melburn Trust
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