If you’re low paid, you’ve lost out even more than the well paid since the crash, according to a new report.
That is just one more reason to make sure you join those marching for fair pay in Belfast, Glasgow and London on Saturday.
The new report from the New Economics Foundation comes in the week that offical inflation measured by the so-called Consumer Price Index (CPI) fell to 1.2%.
But that doesn’t match the reality faced by millions of working people, including UNISON members, who see their wages having to stretch further and further: a reality that sees many public serivce workers having to choose between eating and heating, between buying food or clothes for their children and having decent food and clothes for themselves.
This is becuase the price of essentials – the things that everyone has to buy but which make up a much bigger part of your household spending if you’ve not got a lot to start with – has gone up much faster than the average measured by the CPI.
And that means that while everyone but the wealthiest have seen their real wages fall because they don’t keep up growing costs – it’s the poorest who have been hit hardest.
Their income has falled by 15% in just the past year.
At the same time, a new report from the University of Bath’s institute for policy research says that wages are amost 20% lower than if pay rises had continued at the same rate as before the 2008 crash.
That is why thousands of people will take to the streets of Belfast, Glasgow and London on Satuday 18 ocrtober to demand fairness, justice and the pay rise that everyone – and the economy – needs.
Why not join them?
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.
London
The TUC Britain Needs a Pay Rise march will gather at the Embankment from 11am before marching to rally in Hyde. It will call for an economic recovery that works for all Britons, not just for those right at the top.
Britain needs a pay rise march and rally
Glasgow
The STUC march and rally for A Just Scotland will gather at Glasgow Green from 10am, before marching to a rally in George Square. Key themes are the need to create decent and well-paid work, and providing dignity for those who cannot work. Coaches are being organised from across Scotland to the demo.
A just Scotland march and rally
Belfast
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions’ Northern Ireland Committee’s A Pay Rise For All march will form up in Writers’ Square at noon, before moving off at 12:45pm. It will focus on the message that getting money back into working people’s pockets is essential to a strong recovery.