Usdaw union leader Paddy Lillis has written to the Chancellor, urging the government to increase social security measures, enact a windfall tax and reduce the headline rate of VAT.
The calls come as the RPI has reached 9%, and the CPI for food and drink prices have soared to 5.9% in March.
“The situation is being made significantly worse as a result of historically high rises to food and energy prices and the below inflation increase to Universal Credit and other welfare payments,” Usdaw general secretary Paddy Lillis explained.
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“There is a clear need for Government intervention to support people claiming in-work welfare payments and we call for, as a matter of urgency, an increase to all social security payments by at least the level of inflation.”
Lillis added that the cost of living crisis was also affecting low paid workers, who were struggling to pay energy bills on top of increasing food bills. To combat this, Lillis proposed a windfall tax on North Sea oil and gas producers.
On top of this, Usdaw has urged the government to reduce VAT to 17.5% to “look after the interests of low income households”.
Lillis added: “I’m afraid the government has so far not done what workers need in the face of the cost of living crisis.”
“If they don’t take the action we are calling for, the Government will have simply failed to understand the scale of the challenge faced by millions of workers across the country.”
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