With wages behind inflation, workers need a pay rise

September 13th 2017

With wages behind inflation, workers need a pay rise

September 13th 2017

Commenting on the unemployment and wage statistics released today by the ONS, Grahame Smith, General Secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress, said:

“More positive news on unemployment should not be allowed to distract from the difficult conversations we need to have about our labour market. Real wages are consistently down, falling by 0.4% this quarter, and households across the country are feeling the pinch. Both the UK and Scottish Governments need to focus on putting money back in the pocket of workers, and the wider picture for the economy looks bleak if we continue downwards in this low pay, low growth, high debt economy.

“Both Governments must now focus not just on removing the 1% pay cap for public sector workers but on improving living standards with a real terms pay rise. The private sector too is suffering and more needs to be done to improve the quality of work. It is simply not good enough to highlight low unemployment if the jobs on offer are low paid and insecure. We need a proper industrial strategy, a focus on fair work and a recognition of the role unions play in maintaining living standards and ultimately improving our economy.”

ENDS

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