Here at Solidarity, we believe that people who work hard should be valued and paid accordingly.
Yet, sadly, that’s often not the case. In work poverty is a real problem. It’s not helped by many public workers in the NHS, Councils, etc being given poor wage rises. Zero-hour contracts and minimum wage jobs in the private sector are also to blame. There are so many factors that prevent workers from earning a decent living and giving them the respect that they deserve.
Now the situation may get worse.
Union leaders are warning that workers’ pay will suffer after the Bank of England predicted a surge in inflation to the highest level for a decade.
According to the bank’s latest economic forecasts, inflation, currently running at 2.5 percent, will rise to 4 percent at the end of the year as the British economy recovers from the pandemic.
This would be double the bank’s inflation target and the highest level since the end of 2011.
TUC deputy general secretary Paul Nowak said: “The report from the Bank of England shows what unions, NHS staff, key workers, and the public have warned – the government is cutting the real-terms pay of millions of workers.
“Lots of workers will find that prices are rising faster than their pay, especially those working in the public sector and other key workers who kept us going through the pandemic – like care workers, refuse collectors, and public health staff.
“Keyworker pay is the acid test for the Prime Minister’s promise to ‘build back fairer.’ Every key worker deserves a decent standard of living for their family. But too often, their hard work does not pay. We owe them better.”
