Increase wages and job security, urges TUC

THE regional secretary of the Trades Union Congress has warned that poor working conditions will be a barrier to growth in 2014.

In a New Year statement Lynn Collins said low wages and job insecurity will hold back the economic recovery.

She echoed comments made by John Cridland, the director general of the Confederation of British Industry, who said too many people are “stuck” in minimum wage jobs, despite an upturn in the economy. He urged businesses to give “better pay and more opportunities” to employees.

Ms Collins said: “The statistics show that Britain’s economic recovery is real but that is not how it feels here in the North West. This is because the government has failed to deliver a growth strategy based on rebalancing the economy through exports and investment.

“Instead growth is coming from rising house prices and people running down their savings. And while jobs growth is welcome, too many jobs are insecure and combine the three lows: low skill, low productivity and low pay.”

In the coming year the TUC will focus on a “living wage” campaign and continue to call for zero hour contracts – where workers are not guaranteed work but are expected to remain available – to be outlawed.

Ms Collins added: “We have heard a lot about food banks and their growth in our region, and whilst there is an assumption they exist for those on benefits, we know that over the last year the biggest rise in food bank usage is by those in work, and facing low wages and no guaranteed hours.”

“It’s a disgrace that workers have to turn to charities to put right the damage caused to working families by low wages. Paying a decent wage to all workers would reduce not only food bank dependency, but the benefits bill which currently tops up household income for those in low paid work. Employers should take responsibility and pay decent wages and this will be a big area of campaigning over the next 12 months.”