Bank of England shows why tens of thousands are marching for a pay rise

Commenting on a speech today (Friday) by Andy Haldane, Chief Economist of the Bank of England, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:

“On Saturday tens of thousands will march through London for the TUC’s Britain Needs a Pay Rise demonstration. This speech shows why.

“The Bank of England’s Chief Economist is clear that workers have faced the longest and deepest squeeze in their wages since the middle of the nineteenth century.

“And what is worse is that those in the middle and at the bottom have suffered while those at the top have soared ahead with a 20 per cent wages increase since 1997.

“Britain’s workers have every right to be angry, especially now they have been locked out of the economic recovery as the proceeds go to tax cuts for the rich and boardroom greed.”

NOTES TO EDITORS:

- The following is an extract from the speech made today to the Kenilworth Chamber of Trade in Warwickshire by Andy Haldane, Chief Economist at the Bank of England: “Despite having fallen by almost 10% since the crisis, real wages among the top 10% are still over 20% higher than in 1997. But wages for the bottom 20% have fallen by almost 20% since 2007 and are essentially back to where they were in 1997. Taken together, this paints a picture of a widening distribution of fortunes across the labour market – a tale of two workers. The upper peak of the labour market is clearly thriving in both employment and wage terms. The mid-tier is languishing in both employment and real wage terms. And for the lower skilled, employment is up at the cost of lower real wages for the group as a whole.”

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- On Saturday 18 October the TUC is organising Britain Needs a Pay Rise – a national march and rally in London to call for an economic recovery that delivers for everyone, and for fair wages to help end the living standards squeeze. For more information on the campaign go to www.tuc.org.uk/economic-issues/britain-needs-pay-rise