cost of living – Page 5 – Union Newswire

UNISON launches next stage of cost of living campaign

UNISON moves into the next stage of Together We Rise, the union’s cost of living campaign today. The campaign, which was launched to members at this year’s national delegate conference and at the TUC #DemandBetter rally in London in June, will now be seen by the wider public.

The launch comes on the back of 80,000 people (at the time of publication) signing the union’s petition calling on new Prime Minister Liz Truss to prioritise pay rises over tax cuts, with over 26,000 tweet actions asking the PM and Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng to #EndThePayCrisis ahead of the emergency budget held on 23 September.

Instead of ending the pay crisis, the chancellor’s budget seemed to focus on measures to benefit some of the highest earners in the country, including scrapping the cap on banker’s bonuses and removed the top tax band.

In response, UNISON’s general secretary Christina McAnea said: “The government has ditched levelling up for an all-out offensive to make the wealthiest even richer”, adding: “The country and its teetering public services deserve much better”.

The public launch of Together We Rise will feature a massive external-facing advertising campaign and social media push, with new campaign videos and social media graphics as well as a UK-wide billboard campaign, all featuring real UNISON members.

This will include bursts of press and digital advertising across various platforms, all of which have been planned and scheduled using in-depth data mapping to target areas and demographics where there is the greatest opportunity to maximise support, recruit members and increase the union’s activist base.

Advertising will also drive traffic to the new Together We Rise campaign hub, which launches today.

Visit the campaign hub

The hub presents a public face to the campaign outlining UNISON’s list of demands for more pay and greater support for public sector workers. It features:

a dispute map – tracking UNISON’s actions in the face of the pay crisis;
a cost of living impact calculator – allowing visitors to assess the effect of rising fuel prices, inflation costs and stagnating wages;
member testimonies as well as UNISON’s workplace wins;
links to our welfare services;
member and activist recruitment information;
the latest news, information and sign-up links.

The article UNISON launches next stage of cost of living campaign first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Union leaders call on PM to rule out ‘crippling cuts’ to public services

Union leaders have today called on the prime minister and chancellor to provide a “cast-iron assurance” that they will not make further spending cuts to public services.

In a joint, open letter to Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng, the TUC and 18 trade unions – representing millions of public sector workers – are seeking an urgent meeting, amid fears of another crippling round of austerity this November.

Commenting on the move, TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Government departments have been tasked with finding efficiency savings. After 12 years of cutting services to the bone, there is nothing left to trim.

“When the Conservatives say efficiency savings, this is usually code for cuts.”

UNISON’s general secretary Christina McAnea has added her name to the letter, which reminds the prime minister that in her leadership campaign she promised there would be no reduction in public spending.

The letter goes on: “But according to reports, another wave of crippling austerity could be on its way in November in order to fund tax cuts for the super-rich.

“This would be an act of national vandalism and a huge betrayal of the British people.

“Frontline services are already at breaking point. They must not be sacrificed to make the top 1% even richer.

“Unions will not sit by and allow the government to impoverish public services and the amazing staff who deliver them. We won’t allow the social fabric of this country to be destroyed.”

The article Union leaders call on PM to rule out ‘crippling cuts’ to public services first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Mythbuster: the budget

In his first major act as chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng had an opportunity to steady an economy that has been rocked by the pandemic, the Ukraine war, the energy crisis and years of his own party’s mismanagement.

He also had a nation of workers struggling with low pay and the soaring cost of living, and public services in dire need of investment. “Help is coming” he declared. But for who?

Myth: Friday’s announcement was not a budget

Fact: Despite calling Friday’s announcement a “growth plan”, not a budget, the chancellor’s announcements were one of the biggest fiscal events in the past decade

These are massive changes to economic policy, but the semantic sleight of hand has allowed the new Conservative government to escape proper scrutiny.

Usually, the Office for Budget Responsibility assesses budgets and lets people see robust numbers setting out the impact of each policy. The chancellor, however, has avoided oversight. Perhaps the Conservatives are afraid of scrutiny because they know that their irresponsible plans don’t add up.

Myth: This budget will help to grow the economy

Fact: It is absurd to hear the new Chancellor call this mini budget a “plan for growth” when the defining feature of our economy, after 12 years of Conservative government, is a lack of growth. And the negative impact of these new proposals has already been significant

The pound nosedived during Friday’s announcement, crashing further to record lows the following Monday. This will push prices and inflation even higher and leave Britain poorer. Businesses already struggling to keep afloat with rising energy costs risk bankruptcy, and public services will be stretched even more thinly.

And all of this comes with a huge price tag: to fund their tax giveaways, the government is borrowing record amounts. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) forecasts that borrowing will be over £110 billion – almost 4% of GDP – including almost £45 billion borrowed just to pay for the tax cuts for the wealthiest.

Myth: Trickle down economics will help everyone

Fact: Trickle down economics is a discredited ideology that has been proven time and again not to work. Giving people at the top more money does not result in everyone getting a share: it makes the rich richer and the poor poorer

Friday’s budget includes massive tax cuts for the wealthiest in society – meaning someone earning £1 million will be £55,000 richer each year, while a low-paid worker already struggling to pay their bills will gain just £157.

Myth: Trade unions are holding back the economy

Fact: The chancellor used his budget announcement to attack “militant trade unions”, vowing to make it harder to strike. But the UK already has the strictest anti-trade union legislation in western Europe

Instead of demonising unions and seeing them as the enemy, the chancellor should be talking to unions about ways to improve pay and solve problems. Strikes are a symptom of over a decade of pay restraint and the current cost-of-living crisis. By threatening every employment right won through the membership of the EU, ministers are showing a blatant disregard for the health, safety and well-being of working people.

The article Mythbuster: the budget first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Even Living Wage Foundation rate is not enough, say UNISON members

This week the Living Wage Foundation brought forward a rise in its hourly rates, with a £1 increase to £10.90 across the UK and by 90p to £11.95 in London.

The Foundation’s real living wage rates, which were due to be published in April 2023, were brought forward in recognition of the sharp increase in living costs over the past year.

Unlike the government minimum wage (‘national living wage’) for over 23s, which is £9.50, the Foundation rate is independently calculated based on rising living costs.

Though the new figures mark a 10.1% increase in real living wage since last year, UNISON does not believe this increase is sufficient to cover the cost-of-living crisis that many workers are facing.

UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said: “Low-paid workers are crying out for help. The government must follow the Foundation’s lead and bring forward an increase to the national minimum wage without delay. Waiting until April would be foolish.

“But ministers should go even further. Ensuring everyone is paid at least £15 an hour would be a lifeline for millions barely coping with eye-watering household costs.

“Rather than boosting bankers’ bonuses, the government should concentrate on those feeling genuine financial pain.”

UNISON member Farhiya Nur is a SEN teaching assistant in Birmingham. She said: “People are already struggling on £10 an hour. At least £15 would help a little bit. With the amount of money we get, we pay our bills but don’t have anything left.”

Farhiya lives alone and, with the energy price increases, has calculated that her electricity bill will cost around £300 next month.

“I’m dreading winter. I’m scared. I don’t have the hot water on. I just boil water in a kettle and shower with that kettle water. It’s so scary.”

Last week a UNISON report found that many teaching assistants like Farhiya are leaving the profession for work elsewhere. She said: “Working with SEN children is a very demanding job. The government doesn’t care about us, they’re not even thinking about us. I feel neglected.”

It’s not just school staff who are struggling. Dadirai, who does not wish to share her second name, is an overseas nurse at a hospital in the North West. She said: “It’s not enough. I came to the UK two years ago and even since then a lot of things have gone up in cost.

“When I left home from overseas, I hoped I was coming for greater pastures. I thought I’d made a good decision, that I’d be financially stable, develop myself professionally and be able to send money home. I won’t be able to fulfil those expectations. Right now, I’m living hand to mouth.”

UNISON member Claire Keenan is a social worker in Derbyshire who earns around £17 an hour, and doesn’t believe this is enough to survive on. She said: “Our wages haven’t gone up in so long, and they don’t reflect our qualifications or the level of risk that we’re having to manage on a daily basis. I wouldn’t be on much less if I went and worked in a supermarket, and I wouldn’t have to hold any risk.

“It’s scary. Electricity is going up, and there’s things I’m already having to stop doing. I’ve started to say to myself at the weekend ‘I can’t do that because I need to make sure I have enough petrol in my car for work’. It’s sad that the parts we have to cut back on most are the bits we do for ourselves, that keeps our wellbeing good.”

The article Even Living Wage Foundation rate is not enough, say UNISON members first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Blog: The £60bn gamble with the future of our country

Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng just announced a “new era”. But his party has been in power since 2010, when he was first elected to Parliament. Today’s “not-a-budget” budget, committing tens of billions of pounds on a gamble with the economic future of our country, is in favour of the rich, and at the expense of millions of working people.

We’re in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis that needs urgent action. But Liz Truss and the new chancellor are willing to wait and watch trickle-down Trussonomics spectacularly fail. It’s billed as a “plan for growth”, but we know the only growth will be for bankers, property developers, and to the list of restrictions on trade unions and the queue at the foodbank.

The government has avoided scrutiny from the Office of Budget Responsibility, by calling it a “fiscal event”, but the Institute for Fiscal Studies has signalled why Number 11 was desperate to avoid scrutiny. Their predictions show government plans will leave the country with a £60 billion hole in the nation’s finances.

We’re told there is no money to fix our overstretched public services, and we must rely on one million volunteers to fix the NHS and social care. The NHS is at breaking point, local government is struggling to provide even the most basic local services, and social care is in crisis. When the essential workers we clapped during the pandemic ask for a pay rise, they’re told to accept pay restraint. Today’s budget is proof the money exists. But the political will to help working people doesn’t.

Imagine what we could do with the £60 billion the chancellor is spending on tax cuts and bankers’ bonuses. UNISON’s report published earlier this month, Together We Rise, spelled out how we could solve the cost of living crisis. We offered a plan – and it cost a lot less than £60 billion. Rather than boosting bankers’ bonuses, the government should concentrate on the low-paid workers crying out for help, by ring-fencing the national minimum wage increase, and giving every public service worker a decent pay rise.

It is possible to fix the broken energy sector and soaring energy prices without borrowing more off the backs of working people. It is possible to solve the housing crisis, to top up our deeply inadequate welfare system, and to end long NHS waiting lists and ambulance queues. But the government doesn’t want to. Their priority is to top up the coffers of the wealthiest in society.

As we head into winter, millions will be left worrying about how they will get through it. They’ll be forced to plan which days they can afford to cook food for their families, and which days they can afford to turn on the heating. Because this government has no mask – they’ve made it very clear they’re only on the side of the rich minority.

The article Blog: The £60bn gamble with the future of our country first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Government should follow Foundation’s lead with early wage rate rise, says UNISON

Commenting on the announcement today (Thursday) that the Living Wage Foundation has brought forward a rise in its hourly rates, with a £1 increase to £10.90 across the UK and by 90p to £11.95 in London, UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said:

“Low-paid workers are crying out for help. The government must follow the Foundation’s lead and bring forward an increase to the national minimum wage without delay. Waiting until April would be foolish.

“But ministers should go even further. Ensuring everyone is paid at least £15 an hour would be a lifeline for millions barely coping with eyewatering household costs.

“Rather than boosting bankers’ bonuses, the government should concentrate on those feeling genuine financial pain.”

Notes to editors:
– UNISON is the UK’s largest union with more than 1.3 million members providing public services in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy. They are employed in the public, voluntary and private sectors.

Media contacts:
Garfield Myrie M: 07950 116356 E: g.myrie@unison.co.uk
Liz Chinchen M: 07778 158175 E: press@unison.co.uk

The article Government should follow Foundation’s lead with early wage rate rise, says UNISON first appeared on the UNISON National site.

New date for the UNISON and TUC cost of living lobby of Parliament

UNISON and the TUC have moved their cost of living rally and lobby of Parliament to Wednesday 2 November.

The lobby was originally planned for 19 October, but has been changed because of a rescheduling of the TUC Congress.

The new date will give more time for members to set up meeting with MPs, to explain what the cost of living crisis means for them and their families, the need for a pay rise and the pressures on public services.

The rally that evening, at Westminster Central Hall, will be led by frontline workers.

Both lobby and rally are part of the joint-union campaign to make the government listen and take urgent action on pay and living standards.

General secretary Christina McAnea said: “We’re using all levers at our disposal to demand better for public service workers. The government refuses to recognise their vital contribution and is failing to address the cost of living crisis.

“UNISON and the TUC are working together to change that. We want all UNISON members to contact their MPs, face to face, either locally or in London, to spell out exactly what they do to keep our public services running, and why they deserve a decent pay rise.”

Sign up here

When a member signs up for the lobby, using the link above, they will be contacted by the TUC and supported in booking a meeting with their MP.

UNISON will also be in touch with them, providing briefing and priority campaign messages.

If your workplace is in a different constituency to where you live, and you want to meet the MP for where you work, you can enter the postcode for your workplace on the sign-up page.

In addition to the lobby, there is also a local day of action on Friday 14 October.

This offers members the opportunity to raise cost of living issues with their MPs in their constituencies – or raise the profile of UNISON’s Cost of Living Campaign in their workplace and/or community.

The local day of action isn’t being co-ordinated, but UNISON will provide updates where the union knows that the TUC and/or other unions are organising activities across the UK on that day.

Some local trades councils might use the day to leaflet train stations and might well be in touch through the usual channels.

If it’s not possible to meet with your MP in their constituency – some will not meet campaigners on surgery days – here are some other options branches can consider:

having a street stall in a shopping area;
stalls in workplaces;
a leaflet drop outside workplaces at the start and end of day, and lunchtime;
organising a public meeting;
sending an open letter to local paper.

Please share your branch’s plans with UNISON, by sending an email to policy@unison.co.uk.

Materials – including those for Together We Rise – are available to order from UNISON’s online shop.

Black and white image of a woman with her head in her hands

The article New date for the UNISON and TUC cost of living lobby of Parliament first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Environment Agency staff overwhelmingly reject pay offer

Thousands of Environment Agency (EA) staff have voted in a consultation to overwhelmingly reject the current pay offer of 2% plus a £345 consolidated increase, together with increases to some allowances.

With inflation topping 10% and further increases on the way, the offer, together with an unconsolidated performance award, effectively represents a pay cut.

EA staff had asked for a pay increase above the rate of inflation after a 0% pay increase in 2021 and the current offer fell well short of those made to other public sector workers.

As frontline workers that protected communities and the environment throughout the pandemic, EA staff investigate and prosecute polluters, maintain our costal defenses and inland waterways, and regulate the UK’s nuclear industry and critical infrastructure such as the Thames Barrier.

UNISON national secretary for the environment Donna Rowe-Merriman said: “EA Staff across England have made clear that the current offer is simply not enough.

“This government massively undervalues the role of the agency and, as they set the pay for workers, have failed to provide sufficient funds for an offer to meet soaring inflation.

“Low pay has been a massive problem for the agency – with recruitment and retention having an impact on service delivery.”

And she continued: “Staff feel undervalued and demoralised for the key roles they deliver and now they are feeling the impacts of the cost of living crisis – with many unable to make ends meet and pay their bills and some resorting to foodbanks.

“Now is the time for the agency to step up and make the case for an increased pay offer.”

The article Environment Agency staff overwhelmingly reject pay offer first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Blog: The time to act on the cost of living is now, prime minister

Liz Truss believes Boris Johnson was a marvellous prime minister – and he agrees with her. I watched the news in disbelief as the shamed, outgoing PM made his self-aggrandising, final farewell speech from the steps of Number 10.

How could he be more concerned with his memories of space-hoppers and his own future career than showing remorse for the trail of crises that he leaves behind him?

His debasement of the integrity and probity of the highest public office in the country was only confirmed with his departing words.

How could he possibly claim that social care has been reformed? That is a blatant lie. With over 160,000 vacancies and care homes at risk of closure because of soaring energy costs, the sector is in a worse state than when he took office.

And this is just one sector where the cost of living crisis, the energy crisis and the cost of working crisis are biting hard.

Working people and the services they deliver – which we all we all rely on – are on their knees. Liz Truss has the chance to get the government back to governing.

She could address the income inequality in the country and turn the fates of millions of working people around. But only if she makes the right political choices.

UNISON is calling on Liz Truss and her new cabinet to take urgent action. They must scrap her planned tax cuts that will only benefit the wealthiest and instead increase tax on the highest earners.

They must also give immediate relief to households across the country who are struggling with bills and living costs; deliver a genuine, above inflation pay rise for public service workers, and increase the minimum wage to £15-an-hour.

Higher pay is one of the answers to the cost of living crisis – Liz Truss said it herself in May of this year – and while I have very little faith that another Tory prime minister will offer anything different, I hope she will deliver on our asks, because millions of working people have been failed by this government for too long.

The article Blog: The time to act on the cost of living is now, prime minister first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Strikes called off after improved COSLA pay offer

Strikes across Scotland have been suspended after UNISON secured an improved pay offer from the local government employer, COSLA, which the union will put to members with a recommendation to accept.

In intense late-night negotiations on Thursday with the first minster, the deputy first minister, Scottish government and COSLA, UNISON negotiated a number of improvements to the employer’s offer.

This included an increase in the overall value of the pay offer to £600m, full consolidation from the date of implementation and that the calculations will be based on a 36 rather than a 37-hour week.

The new offer

• An increase of £2,000 for those earning up to £20,500;
• an increase of £1,925 for those earning between £20,500 to £39,000;
• a 5% increase for those earning between £39,000 to £60,000;
• a maximum increase of £3k for those earning above £60,000;
• the removal of SSSC fees where application (social care registration fees);
• one extra days annual leave;
• all increases based on a 36hr week calculator.

Chair of UNISON Scotland local government committee Mark Ferguson said: “Do not underestimate the scale of the achievement for UNISON members. We have won significant increases from where we started eight months ago.

“We have had to drag the employer to the table to even talk to us. This will go some way to help them through the cost of living crisis but by no means is the fight over.

UNISON will now continue its campaign to improve pay and conditions for all workers in local government.”

UNISON head of local government in Scotland Johanna Baxter added: “This offer is a victory for UNISON members. COSLA originally offered 2%, then 3.5%, then 5%.

“Now we have £600m on the table, which is a 7.5% increase to the total pay bill and 87% of our council workers will receive fully consolidated increases of between 5% to 10%.

“It is only through the collective action of our members in schools and early years threatening strike action and our waste and recycling workers taking action that we have forced these extra funds out of government and the employer.

“UNISON’s local government members are no longer prepared to be treated as the poor relations of the public sector. They will stand up, speak up and organise to win change together. There is always more to do but this is a welcome step in the right direction.”

The article Strikes called off after improved COSLA pay offer first appeared on the UNISON National site.