Tuesday, December 30, 2014

TUC New Year message – 2015 must bring living standards boost as average wage fell £500 in 2014

"In her New Year message, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady reveals that the real value of the average full-time wage fell by £487 in 2014 (from new TUC analysis – full details below). This means that the average full-time employee wage has fallen in real terms by £2,509 since 2010 – about £50 a week".

Read the rest of this depressing but true press release here  - but Frances does point to a solution "

In 2015 we need a fresh start. Employers are beginning to recognise that a low wage economy is holding back growth. It is time to turn their words into action because businesses need customers with money in their pockets. Government, employers and unions must work together to promote wage led growth.

“This means increasing pay for those at the bottom with a higher minimum wage and spreading the living wage.

“But it also means better pay for those in the middle, and a real drive to create secure, skilled jobs on decent pay rather than relying on zero-hours, involuntary part-time work and low-paid self-employment to keep the jobless figures down. This needs active industrial policies that help create good jobs and investment in infrastructure we need to underpin success.

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