Pay must not fall off the political agenda

Last week marked the end of the TUC’s Fair Pay Fortnight. Between the 24^th March and 6^th April around 90 events took place throughout Britain, over 25 of which were in the North East, ranging from wage summits to street stalls.

Prominent living wage employers, MPs, young workers, policy experts, NHS workers and even the Bishop of Durham have supported our call, all making the case for fair pay and better jobs.

We have heard how unions are driving up pay in the private sector, why paying the living wage is good for business, and the personal experiences of those who are affected by low pay.

Fair Pay Fortnight has been covered extensively in the national and regional media and allowed us to highlight the stories of workers feeling the squeeze, people like Bryony Hamblin; a 21 year-old USDAW rep who can’t earn enough to move out of home and spends nearly half her wages on travel. Unfortunately, these are just a fraction of the many pay challenges facing young people.

Fair Pay Fortnight has allowed us to reach out to and engage with the general public in a number of different ways, as well as collecting tonnes of signatures for our fair pay petition. Fair Pay Fortnight has been a great experience to be involved with and has been supported fantastically by unions at a national, regional and local level. It is essential that we use the momentum it has created to build towards our national Britain Needs a Pay Rise demonstration in London this October.

Fair pay must not be allowed to slip off the political agenda between now and the election. Research published by the TUC over the last two weeks shows the scale of the challenge we face: 22% of workers in the North East are paid less than the living wage. And while wages for some workers in the private sector may now just about be beating inflation, it will be years before they recover their pre-crash spending power.

Employees in a range of industries, including manufacturing, retail, hospitality and construction – where annual pay is, on average, £2,000 lower (in real terms) than it was four years ago – could wait until 2025 before their salaries return to 2007 levels.

Construction workers are earning an average of £88 a week less than they were before the financial crisis seven years ago. Manufacturing workers’ wages are an average £33 a week less than in 2007, and in retail, wholesale, hotels and restaurants, employees are £25 a week worse off, with their earnings not predicted to recover until 2024.

This is why we campaign so hard to have a meaningful recovery – and the only real recovery is one in which ordinary people share.

Beth Farhat – Regional Secretary Northern Region