Cost of living crisis: Unite commits to defending jobs and pay

Cost of living crisis

Huge energy price increases of 54% with further rises likely in October add to the pressure building on household budgets. Join us on Thursday 10th February at 6.30pm on zoom (this special meeting is additional to our usual Tuesday night branch meeting - all members invited to both.) Plan the fightback on pay in the housing sector.

While accepting it would cause suffering, Andrew Bailey, the Bank of England governor has called for low pay rises. Worth noting his pay is £600000 per year. We won’t be taking his advice!

Unite responses:

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham says workers didn’t cause inflation or the energy crisis so why should they pay for it?

Sharon Graham said: “Yet again workers are being asked to pay the price, this time for inflation and the energy crisis. Inflation has not been caused by workers. Why should they be expected to pay for the failures of the energy market and the total shambles of Government policy? Workers don’t need lectures from the Governor of the Bank of England on exercising pay restraint. Why is it that every time there is a crisis, rich men ask ordinary people to pay for it?  Enough is enough, we will be demanding that employers who can pay, do pay. Let's be clear, pay restraint is nothing more than a call for a national pay cut.”

Energy cap rise is a cost-of-living ‘catastrophe’ for ordinary workers

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “The energy price cap rise will turn the cost-of-living crisis into a catastrophe for millions of people. This will plunge at least one in four families in Britain into fuel poverty. The policy announced today to provide loans to energy companies to reduce bills, in the short term, is yet another knee-jerk reaction. It fails to address the calamitous increases coming in customer bills and ultimately means ordinary families will foot the bill for an energy crisis not of their making. Given that taxpayers' money is paying for the bail-out, these loans must come with substantial strings attached, including guarantees that jobs will not be lost. Otherwise, they will just vanish into big corporate energy balance sheets. Without government investment in sustainable domestic sources, such as new nuclear and renewables, the UK public, as well as the economy, will continue to be at the mercy of unstable energy markets.”

Interest rate increase places extra pressure on squeezed households

Commenting on the Bank of England’s decision to increase interest rates by 0.25 per cent, to 0.5 per cent, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said:

“Families across the UK are facing a triple whammy of rising interest rates, surging inflation and energy prices rising dramatically this spring. The government has completely failed to put forward any meaningful solutions to relieve the intense squeeze on household incomes. Each and every increase in interest rates will result in households who were just managing to keep their heads above water, starting to go under. Unite is the union which is dedicated to defending the jobs, pay and conditions of its members. Central to that commitment is ensuring that workers receive a fair day’s pay for a hard day’s work.”

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