2. The Great Wages Grab
• Wages have been stagnant for past
30 years – however the recession
has widened the gap between wages
and profits even further
• This is because wages have not kept
up with inflation – this is an artificial
suppression of wages
4. Why Are They Winning?
• The Coalition Government has no
overarching plan of action – they are
scrambling for policy ideas they think fit
their ideological agenda
• Listen to them talk – they don’t talk in
either stats or philosophy, but in values
• Stats never built a movement alone – we
need to rediscover our values and start to
build upon them again
5. Where’s the wonga?
• Tories like to say that the national
economy is the same as an
individual’s credit card, where it’s
more like a mortgage
• There is plenty of money in
society, it’s just being hoarded by the
rich and wealthy – mostly offshore
6. TUC Priorities 2013
Jobs, growth and
the banks
Fair pay & the
Living Wage
Economic
democracy, voice
& rights
Strong unions
Public services &
welfare
7. Making Pay Matter
• The public sector pay freeze is starting
to thaw, but don’t expect to be offered
more than 1%
• Average private sector wages will
continue to rise, but at the same level
as public sector
• However, those on minimum wage
won’t see an increase beyond statutory
increase – which was 11p p/h.
8. Regional Pay
Not Gone Away
• The NHS Pay Cartel in the South West
is heavily wounded, but not dead yet.
• The Coalition Government are now
looking at abolishing national pay
bargaining for teachers
• Regional pay is still a threat for civil
servants
9. Living Wage
• Living Wage is driven by values as
much as it is by the economics and
politics of it.
• While the Living Wage has economic
benefits for
workers, taxpayers, employers and
communities, it’s the moral
arguments that have won
11. Building our Coalition
• The union movement is at its best
when we bring people with us
• We can bring together
churches, voluntary groups, activist
campaigns
• We do so on common values not
comprehensive programme
13. The Difference
• Look at our examples, and the
difference between the minimum
wage and the Living Wage.
• The average Bristol family would
“lose” £3,500 per year in benefits
but would still overall be £500 a
year better off
14. Hourly wage
Weekly hours
No. Of wage earners in household
No. Of Children in Household
Minimum Wage
6.19
40
2
2
Living Wage Difference
7.45
1.26
40
0
2
0
2
0
Rent*
Council tax**
Income tax
NI Contributions
Total Outgoings
175
26.84
36.86
24.38
263.08
175
26.84
57.02
36.46
295.32
0
0
20.16
12.08
32.24
Weekly income from wages
Tax Credits (Working & Child)
Council Tax Benefit
Housing Benefit
Child Benefit
Total Income
495.2
596
121.02
79.81
0
0
65.13
47.37
33.7
33.7
715.05
756.88
100.8
-41.21
0
-17.76
0
41.83
Difference between Income & Outgoings
451.97
461.56
9.59
Weekly surplus
9.59
Monthly surplus
38.36
Annual surplus
498.68
15. Organise or die
• We’re not the dinosaurs the right wing and
the bosses make us out to be, but we need
to grow – or die.
• This means reaching out to workers we’ve
not reached out to before, in the new
industries which remain unorganised
• The Living Wage is a demonstrable example
of the difference only unions can make in
the workplace
• Alongside campaigning we need to be
recruiting and organising
