Retail trade union Usdaw is calling on the government to address workers’ pay as wages continue to be devalued by double-digit inflation.
This comes as the Retail Price Index rate dipped to 11.3% and has remained double-digit for over a year, while the Consumer Prices Index remained the same at 8.7%.
Usdaw general secretary, Paddy Lillis said the governments “failure to address the crisis” in workers’ pay and employment rights “is making the cost-of-living crisis much worse,” adding “skyrocketing prices, particularly on food items, leave too many workers struggling to make ends meet”.
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The trade union has claimed that the short-term support the government is currently offering is “not enough to deliver lasting solutions with a new deal for workers”.
As a result, Usdaw is asking for a new deal that makes work pay with an immediate increase in the minimum wage to at least £12 per hour for all workers, regardless of age, as a step towards £15.
It has also called for an end to insecure employment and one-sided flexibility “through contracts that reflect normal hours of work”.
Lillis added: “The government is not offering the change our members need, with Rishi Sunak set to fail on his paltry target of halving inflation by the end of the year. After 13 years of Tory economic failure, it’s time for a general election.
“Labour is pledged to deliver a new deal for workers within 100 days of coming into government.”
