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The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has called for action from the Government to set about increasing the minimum wage to £15 an hour “as soon as possible”.
It comes amid of a summer of significant industrial action as leading unions have raised frustrations over declines in real pay amid soaring inflation. Last week, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that workers saw their pay lag behind inflation at a record rate over the three months to June.
Regular pay, excluding bonuses, increased by 4.7% over the quarter but failed to keep up with rampant inflation, which struck 9.4% in June and accelerated to another 40-year high last month. Port workers at Felixstowe have already been on strike this week.
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Postal deliveries are also set to be disrupted due to strikes by Royal Mail workers who are members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU). The current minimum wage for workers aged 23 and over is £9.50 – with lower rates for younger employees.
The TUC has said the Government must deliver a “plan to strengthen and extend collective bargaining across the economy” to help boost pay for workers. Proposals also include corporate governance reforms and a “life-long learning and skills strategy” designed to address labour shortages.
The TUC said that the new wage should be put in place “as soon as possible” and that it should apply to workers of all ages, putting an end to the different wage tiers for workers aged between 16 and 22. The TUC launched their ‘Fight For 15’ UK campaign on Tuesday, writing on Twitter: “Millions of low-paid workers are being pushed to the brink by eye-watering bills and soaring prices.
“Yet companies are making record profits and handing massive pay rises to those at the very top. Higher wages are good for the economy,” they continued. “More money for working people means more money spent on our high streets.”
The proposed new wage would amount to a minimum of £29,250 per year for a full-time person working 37.5 hours per week. It would be a considerable increase on the current National Living Wage, which is £9.50 for those aged 23 and over with lower rates for younger workers.
Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the TUC, said: “Every worker should be able to afford a decent standard of living. But millions of low-paid workers live wage packet to wage packet, struggling to get by – and they are now being pushed to the brink by eye-watering bills and soaring prices.
“We can’t keep lurching from crisis to crisis. Working families need long-term financial security – that means reversing the destructive trend of standstill wages. Ministers should introduce fair pay agreements to get pay and productivity rising in low-paid sectors.”
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