Recovery must see improved living standards for all, says TUC

date: 24 February 2014

embargo: 00.01hrs Tuesday 25 February 2014

Recovery must see improved living standards for all, says TUC

Economic recovery is unsustainable unless workers get decent pay rises and see their living standards improve, the TUC is warning at the annual TUC and Incomes Data Services (IDS) pay bargaining forum in London today (Tuesday).

Speakers at the one-day conference – including TUC Assistant General Secretary Paul Nowak, IDS Head of Pay and Research Ken Mulkearn, ASLEF National Organiser Simon Weller, PCS Head of Equality, Pay and Policy Norina O’Hare and Unite Assistant General Secretaries Tony Burke and Gail Cartmail – will discuss what a fairer pay system would look like, how it could be achieved, and how vital decent pay is to a sustained economic recovery.

Speaking at the conference in London Paul Nowak will say: “The good news is we’re finally recovering from the crash and the prolonged recession and stagnation that followed. The bad news is very few workers are feeling the benefit, with recent TUC polling suggesting just one in 50 people feel better off.

“But the problems we face now have been a long time in the making and are the inevitable consequence of three decades of free-market fundamentalism – an economic doctrine that put too much wealth in the hands of too few.

“Unions must get the pendulum swinging the other way. We must ensure we have a recovery for all, that doesn’t leave working people struggling to make ends meet as energy and transport costs continue to spiral.

“What the patchy recovery has done is shine a light on the uneven distribution of reward in the UK. In the first three days of the year CEOs of top companies earn what their workers can expect to receive during the whole of 2014.

“Directors pay has trebled over the past decade while real wages have stagnated for ordinary workers. You only have to look at the current bonus round in the banking industry for evidence of that, where telephone number bonuses remain the norm.

“We need a recovery that lifts the living standards of all workers, regardless of where they live or which sector they work in. The union movement must keep up the pressure for change, ensuring that politicians respond to the realities facing millions of working people.

“Britain needs a pay rise and we urgently need to get real wages growing for workers across the UK. The single most effective way of addressing the cost of living crisis is by raising the wages of ordinary workers.

“However, in the public sector most bargaining groups are still subject to the one per cent pay cap – a real-terms pay cut. Add in hikes to pension contributions and years of pay restraint, and what you have is a serious erosion of the terms and conditions of millions of public servants. With the economy recovering and the deficit coming down, it’s high time Britain’s teachers, nurses, firefighters, council workers and prison officers got a fair deal.

“We must tackle Britain’s low pay epidemic. One in six workers is paid below the living wage. Low pay undermines our productivity and competitiveness, costs the taxpayer billions in in-work benefits and most of all, it harms people’s lives and life chances.

“The TUC is campaigning for a big rise in the minimum wage and proper enforcement of it, a living wage in the public sector, modernised wages councils setting higher pay floors in the sectors that can afford them, and worker representation on remuneration committees, so that we have a fairer distribution of reward.

“We may have a record number of people in work – and that’s to be welcomed – but too many of these jobs are low paid and insecure. We need an imaginative vision of how we deliver decent work for all. From investment in skills to stronger unions and better pay systems there’s so much we can do to make that a reality.”

NOTES TO EDITORS:

- The annual TUC and IDS pay bargaining conference in today (Tuesday 25 February) from 9.15am-4.30pm at Congress House, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3LS. Further information can be found at www.tuc.org.uk/events/tuc-ids-pay-bargaining-forum

- Journalists will need to register with the TUC Press Office to come to the conference, so please call 020 7467 1248 if you would like to attend.

- IDS is an independent research organisation providing information and analysis in key areas across the employment field. You can reach the press office on0845 077 2911.

- The TUC is organising Fair Pay Fortnight from Monday 24 March to Sunday 6 April. It will be a series of events across England and Wales to raise awareness about falling living standards. www.fairpayfortnight.org

Contacts:

Media enquiries:
Liz Chinchen   T: 020 7467 1248    M: 07778 158175    E: media@tuc.org.uk
Rob Holdsworth    T: 020 7467 1372    M: 07717 531150     E: rholdsworth@tuc.org.uk
Elly Gibson   T: 020 7467 1337    M: 07900 910624     E: egibson@tuc.org.uk