Paddy Lillis – Usdaw General Secretary says: “The Chancellor’s assertion yesterday that ‘people have more money in their pockets’ shows that he is totally out of touch with the real lives of workers. Claims that wage growth is outstripping inflation can only be made if compared with a fundamentally flawed measure of price rises. CPI does not reflect the price increases most people experience, RPI is a much better measure and that remains higher than average wage growth. Even under the flawed CPI measure, wage growth was only marginally higher, which is no compensation for over a decade of real terms income cuts.
“Continuing very high price increases, particularly on food items, leave too many workers struggling to make ends meet. Food inflation remains above the headline rates at 12.2% and continues to have a severe impact on low-paid workers struggling to make ends meet. Regular pay, excluding bonuses, rose by 7.8% in the three months to August, which is below today’s RPI rate of inflation of 8.9%, amounting to a real terms pay cut.
“Despite growth in regular pay, low-paid workers feel no better off, with continuing high inflation, high interest rates, rising rents and cost pressures that are significantly over and above the headline rate. In fact some prices, such as petrol and diesel, are rising steadily again and food inflation, although easing slightly, continues to put huge pressure on working families. These are the real inflation rates the Government should be focussed on tackling.
“Short-term support measures with ongoing cost of living pressures are only sticking plasters and are not enough to help those struggling to make ends meet. Our members need lasting solutions with a new deal for workers. Only Labour is pledged to deliver the new deal Usdaw has long campaigned for within 100 days of coming into government. Only Labour has the policies and ideas that can put the country back on track.
“The latest figures have put further doubt on the Prime Minister’s incredibly weak commitment to halve inflation. On Thursday, voters in two by-elections have a chance to send a clear message to the Tories that enough is enough. I encourage all voters in Mid-Bedfordshire and Tamworth to vote Labour and further build the case for an urgent general election”
The next Labour Government will deliver a new deal that includes:
- Making work pay with a genuine living wage that people can actually live on.
- Banning zero-hours contracts.
- Ending fire and rehire.
- Giving workers basic rights from day one.
- Going further and faster in closing the gender pay gap.
- Making work more family friendly.
- Tackling sexual harassment.
- Ensuring that unions can stand up for their members.
- Boosting collective bargaining, to improve workers’ pay, terms and conditions.
Notes for editors:
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fifth biggest trade union with over 350,000 members. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemical industry and other trades
www.usdaw.org.uk
RPI v CPI: Usdaw argues that the Retail Prices Index (RPI) is a better measure of inflationary pressure on low-paid workers because it includes housing costs, like mortgage interest and buildings insurance, along with essentials such as Council Tax, Road Tax and TV Licence. The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) includes some items of no relevance to low-paid workers, such as stockbroker fees and boat maintenance costs. The figures released today, for the 12 months to September 2023 are RPI at 8.9% and CPI at 6.7%.
For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter
@UsdawUnion