Inflation forecasts a bitter pill for workers

Today’s Treasury inflation forecasts spell more misery for hard-pressed workers, for those on fixed incomes and families across the UK, said UNISON, the UK’s largest union today.
 
While the government bangs the drum for an economic upturn that only bosses and shareholders are feeling, the Treasury quietly slipped out figures today predicting a rise in forecasted inflation. The rise is set to increase living costs by 17% over the next four years when the value of most workers’ pay is continuing to fall.
 
Dave Prentis, General Secretary of UNISON, said:
 
“The news that inflation is set to rise will come as a bitter pill to workers across the UK. They have already suffered a 7% cut in the real value of their pay since the 2008 financial crash and are in the midst of the longest fall in real wages in living memory.
 
“It is a gross injustice that the Government’s is continuing to limit public sector pay rises to a maximum of 1% until 2016, when inflation is set to rise at triple that rate over the period. Our members and their families are already suffering real financial hardship and the news today will pile on more misery.”
 
UNISON is warning that the rising cost of living, fuelled by gas andelectricity price hikes of around 8.5%, is having a serious impact on Britain’s low paid. This will add to the explosion of workers earning less than a living wage, which went from 3.4m in 2009 to 4.8m in 2012.