Are you feeling the pinch? There’s a simple reason for that: your pay now is worth less than it was last year, and the year before, and the year before that, and the year before that … and all the way back to 2007.
As the UK gears up for this Saturday’s marches for fairness and pay across the economy, a new blog on the TUC Touchstone website reveals that UK workers are living through the seventh consecutive year of falling real wages.
And theat is something that’s never been seen before – at least not since records began in the mid 19th century.
Touchstone blog: A real earnings decline with no precedent
And that is just one reason UNISON is backing the TUC Britain Needs a Pay Rise march and rally in London on 18 October – alongside the March for Fair Pay in Belfast and the march and rally for A Just Scotland in Glasgow
The UK has one of the highest proportions of low-paid workers in the developed world: one in five earns less than the living wage and has to rely on benefits to make up the difference – and that includes large numbers of UNISON members delivering vital public services.
Members of the union across the country are saying: enough is enough – we can’t continue with a situation where costs constantly rise, but wages are falling.
And alongside individual pay disputes and campaign, UNISON is urging as many members as possible to turn out on the marches in Belfast, Glasgow and London.
Branches and regions up and down the country are organising transport to take members to the rallies – so if you’re a UNISON member, contact your branch now to see how you can take part and make your voice heard for fair pay.
And if you are a UNISON member or branch taking part in one of the marches or organising transport, let us know why – and how it’s going.
Email us at infocus@unison.org.uk to share your story.