Trade with Europe is vital for jobs and living standards, says TUC

Commenting on the report published today (Monday) by British Influence, which finds that over four million jobs in the UK today are dependent on exports to the European Union, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:

“One in seven British jobs already depend on trade with the rest of the EU, and these four million jobs tend to be more highly skilled and better paid than most.

“Jobs in the Midlands and Yorkshire are even more reliant on exports to Europe than jobs in other parts of the UK. The recovery won’t deliver for large parts of the country if the needs of the regions are ignored.

“Trade with Europe is vital to the British economy and to the living standards of people at work. Britain’s membership of the EU needs to work for Britain, and for working people that means the right to good jobs, better training and higher pay.”

Derby Wages Summit

Below are images from our Derby Wages Summit, one of our events for Fair Pay Fortnight during March and April.

The cheque is out

We have the first view of our campaign cheque at Derby City Council, looking forward to our Wages Summit at 6.30 with TUC President Mohammed Taj

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Sarah Russell, councillor at Derby City Council, says, "I am delighted to be taking part in #fairpayfortnight the issue of low pay affects millions of workers in our count ry and it's important we put this issue back on the political agenda"

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Fair Pay Fortnight – TUC President joins unions and politicians in Derby to speak up for the Living Wage and to demand that the East Midlands Needs A Pay Rise

 

 

The TUC are today co-hosting the　 "East Midlands Wage Summit" on Friday 28^th March with Derby City Council to raise awareness of how working people in the UK are seeing their　living standards squeezed harder and harder　every year.

 

 

This "Wage Summit" is part of the TUC’s national ‘Pay Fair Fortnight’ campaign that runs from Monday 24 March to Sunday 6 April 2014. The fortnight is part of the TUC’s Britain Needs a Pay Rise campaign and will comprise a series of media stories and events across England and Wales to raise awareness about low pay, pay inequality and falling living standards.

The cost of energy, food and　housing is soaring but pay is not keeping up. On average real wages in the East Midlands more than £3000 lower now than in 2009 and many people are trapped in low-paid　and insecure jobs.　

In additition to declining real wages, wage inequality in the East Midlands has soared over the last 13 years. The figures – based on full-time earnings from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) – show that between 2000 (when the data was first collected) and 2013 the pay gap between the top 10 per cent and the bottom 10 per cent of earners in the East Midlands rose by 5 per cent.

Lunch Time Photo Op

A lunch time photo opportunity will be held at 12 noon on Friday 4^th April, in front of Derby’s Council House: Corporation Street, Derby DE1 2FS

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

A giant cheque highlighting the lost wages in the East Midlands will be unveiled, along with a "Fair Pay Fortnight" shopping trolley to illustrate the impact on cost of living.


Campaigners will be wearing special ‘Fair Pay Fortnight’ T-shirts and be talking to members of the public to capture their stories.

The East Midlands Wage Summit will commence at 6.30pm in Derby City Council’s Council Chamber. An eclectic line up of speakers will talk about the impact of poverty pay in Derby and the East Midlands and debate ways of improving wages from modern wages councils, the extension of measures such as the Living wage and smarter use of government procurement.

East Midlands Wage Summit Speakers:

 

Chair Rob Johnston, Midlands TUC Regional Secretary

Mohammed Taj, TUC President

Cllr Sarah Russell, Derby City Council

Helen Black, UNISON East Midlands Regional Secretary

Cheryl Pidgeon, UCATT Midlands Regional Secretary

Linda Woodings, MEP candidate for East Midlands

Dom Anderson, National Union of Students

 

Midlands TUC Regional Secretary, Rob Johnston, said:

"Working families are experiencing the biggest pressure on their living standards since Victorian times. Pay has been squeezed at all levels below the boardroom and it’s costing our economy dear. Over £3,000 have been stolen from the wage packets of workers here in the East Midlands over the last few years. The people of the West Midlands did not cause the economic crash and yet are being asked to pay a heavy burden through an attack on their standard of living. Wages have fallen so much that 22% of all workers in the East Midlands are paid below the Living Wage rate.

The number of living wage employers is growing rapidly and that is why we are pleased to host our Wage Summit with Derby City Council. The Council have been bold in both extending the Living Wage to their own staff but also imaginative in using the procurement process to encourage the reach of the Living Wage across Derby.

It’s clear, we need an economy that works for ordinary families and not just those at the top. The policies of the Government are causing a real wages crisis and, quite simply, the East Midlands Needs A Pay rise.

We need to see a far greater commitment to pay the living wage from government and employers, and modern wages councils which could set higher minimum rates in industries where employers can afford to pay their staff more."

 

Cllr Sarah Russell, Derby City Council said:

"I am delighted that the TUC’s East Midlands Fair Pay Event will be hosted in Derby.　 At a time when people are struggling to make ends meet it’s vitally important that we campaign for decent rates of pay for hard pressed families.

The cost of living crisis sweeping our City makes it clear to me that Derby needs a pay rise.　 I would encourage everyone to get involved with the TUC’s Fair Pay Fortnight."

George Eliot saved from privateers

Campaigners were today celebrating a tremendously important victory in the battle to save the NHS. 

A coalition of health unions, community campaigners and patients have been leading a lengthy campaign to save George Eliot Hospital from being flogged off to a private provider and demanding that the hospital be kept in public hands.

And today victory for the campaign was announced, with the hospital's future now secure under NHS management. 

The hospital had made huge improvements following te Keogh report and has demonstrably shown that the NHS is the most effective way of turning around hospitals. 

The people of Nuneaton have spoken. The NHS is not for sale - it's time the Government took stock and abandons any future attempts to sell the NHS.

#fairpayfortnight hits Lincoln

Just set up in Lincoln and talking to visitors to this fine city. Picture is of our campaign trolley in front of the cathedral.

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NUT march and Rally in Birmingham - the pictures!

A few photos from today's march and rally by NUT members on their one day strike in Birmingham . Members came in from Coventry, Walsall, Dudley and Wolverhampton to join the hosting Birmingham Division in their protest.

Jobs, opportunity and fairness – Derbyshire is showing the way on pay

Jobs, opportunity and fairness. For too many people in the country today, these three simple aspirations are but a pipe dream. For half a decade now unemployment has ravaged communities. And despite a welcome uptick in employment in recent months unemployment is still high.

The economic cost of large scale, long-term unemployment in terms of lost growth and tax receipts are huge. And the impact on individuals is devastating. We know that those people out of work for an extended period are more likely to suffer from physical and mental ill health, whilst long-term career prospects likely to be permanently hampered.

So that is why getting a policy fix for unemployment really ought to be front and centre for policy makers.

The government’s decision to scrap the ‘Future Jobs Fund’ is now widely accepted to have been a costly mistake. This job guarantee scheme, designed to get 35,000 young people off the dole queue, provided people with real work for a real wage. Just a cursory glance at the statistics shows that the FJF was cost effective and delivering before it was scrapped.

The DWP’s own statistics showed that the exchequer gained £7,750 for every  participant on the Future Jobs Fund through wages, increased tax receipts and reduced benefit payments. Indeed, participants personally gained £4,000, employers gained £6,850 and participants were 16% less likely to be in receipt of welfare two years after joining the scheme than non-participants.

In short it worked, unlike the present government’s current job subsidy scheme, where only 10,030 – just 6.3 per cent – of the targeted 160,000 18-24 year olds have found work.

Clearly, if we are to follow the evidence, job guarantee programmes work. And policy makers would do worse than to take a look at an innovative job guarantee scheme that is about to start at Derby City Council. Not only does it provide unemployed people with a job, but it also ensures that these jobs are paid at the Living Wage.

That is delivering fairness to go alongside the jobs and opportunity.

Derby City Council have taken advantage of government funding to introduce the ‘Local Assistance Scheme’ and to press ahead with the ‘Derby’s Working’ job guarantee scheme. The government grant is a small proportion of what was previously spent by central government on the Social Fund which was designed to support vulnerable people.

The funding has not been ring-fenced, and therefore local authorities have been able to spend the money on differing priorities. In Derby, part of the Local Assistance Scheme has been used to help those citizens in crisis by paying for food vouchers, utility bills and laundry costs. And now the Local Assistance Scheme is funding the ‘Derby’s Working’ job guarantee scheme.

There is no restriction on who is eligible to take part in ‘Derby’s Working’. Whilst the programme is targeted at the over 25’s, no person will be turned away from participating. The scheme will fund people to work for six months for either 20 or 30 hours a week and to be paid at the Living Wage rate. Over 70 local organisations have signed up and there will be genuine partnership working between the employers and Jobcentre Plus staff.

Participants will have a dedicated mentor to coach them through their period of employment. Training will be provided throughout the employment to help develop skills.

It is hoped that, at the end of the six month period, participants will either secure long term sustainable employment with their host employer or, to have new skills and a decent reference that will help them find employment elsewhere.

Crucially, participants will be followed after their placement finishes to monitor the success of the programme going forward.

But this is just the latest example of positive, progressive policies emanating from Derbyshire. Derby City Council already pays the Living Wage for staff and uses their procurement policy to encourage suppliers to pay the Living Wage too.

Derbyshire’s Police & Crime Commissioner has also made Derbyshire Constabulary a Living Wage employer, recently adopted a policy of entrenching the Living Wage in the Constabulary’s procurement policy and pay interns at the Living Wage rate.

Over at Derbyshire County Council, the Living Wage is presently being rolled out to staff and they have recently ensured that all apprentices receive the recognised age-related NMW rate, rather than the apprenticeship pay rate of just £2.65, a move that has also been adopted by at Derbyshire Constabulary.

Evidently there is the political will and determination in Derbyshire to put jobs, opportunity and fairness front and centre in the policy programme across the County. Derby City Council deserve great credit for this latest job guarantee scheme that will deliver jobs, opportunity and fairness  for the people of the city. You can’t ask for more than that.

This article originally appeared on Left Foot Forward: http://www.leftfootforward.org/2014/03/jobs-opportunity-and-fairness-derbyshire-is-showing-the-way-on-pay/

Picture record from our Fair Pay Fortnight event in Redditch

A few photos from our visit to Redditch this week where we launched our Fair Pay Fortnight tour of the Midlands. Tomorrow is Lincoln and Newark, where we shall again be talking to people about the need for a pay rise for Britain's hard working families.

TUC 's Kevin Rowan shows support for teachers strike

TUC head of department Kevin Rowan speaking in Victoria Square in Birmingham, supporting teachers and all public sector workers, condemning the move towards privatisation if our public services. Don't put profit before pupils!

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Kevin Courtney in Birmingham

Kevin Courtney speaking at the rally in Birmingham, laying it on the line for Michael Gove, who does not attend talks, makes teachers work long hours, demoralizing the teaching profession. 

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Redditch Needs A Pay Rise

The shopping trolley is out for fair pay fortnight. Declining wages mean that ordinary people are increasingly finding it difficult to make ends meet. 

People today have told is that they have really felt the squeeze when doing the weekly shop. Redditch Needs A Pay Rise

Our first case Study in Redditch

Our first case study, mum in work, partner with a disability, two young kids, living on benefits until back to work after maternity leave, it's a struggle.

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Redditch needs a Pay Rise!

Our first campaign action is in Redditch, and yes it's raining! So Redditch needs a pay rise even if we are going to get a bit wet. 

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Pay inequality has soared across the East Midlands since 2000, says TUC

Wage inequality has soared across the East Midlands over the last 13 years according to

new TUC analysis published today (Monday) to coincide with the beginning of the TUC’s first Fair Pay Fortnight which runs until Sunday 6 April 2014.

The figures – based on full-time earnings from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) – show that between 2000 (when the data was first collected) and 2013 the pay gap between the top 10 per cent and the bottom 10 per cent of earners in the east midlands rose by 5 per cent. This is similar to the national average rise in the pay gap of five per cent over the same period.

A similar picture emerges in the West Midlands where the gap between those on the 90^th and 10^th percentile of earnings has grown by 7 per cent since 2000.

The TUC analysis reveals that across most of the rest of the country the pay inequality ratio is also rising – up by four per cent between 2000 and 2013 in the North West, three per cent in the East of England, and two per cent in Scotland and the North East. Across London and the South east wage inequality has soared by 14 percent and nine percent respectively.

Only Wales and the South West have seen pay inequality reduce over the last 13 years. However the TUC believes this is more down to top earners not doing as well as in other parts of the UK, rather than those at the bottom getting a better deal.

Comparing the pay gap between the top 90 per cent of earners and those earning a median wage paints a similar picture of rising wage inequality. By this measure inequality has risen by 4.5 per cent across the UK, with the largest rise (8.5 per cent) in London.

The TUC research also reveals how much the top 10 per cent of earners across the UK bring home and how their salaries vary greatly. The highest top earners are in London where they receive £82,000 a year, followed by those in the South East who are on £57,000 and the East of England where they earn about £52,000 per annum.

In contrast, an annual salary of about £48,000 puts workers in the top 10 per cent of earners in the West Midlands and £47,000 makes the top 10 per cent in the East Midlands. This means that top earners across the Midlands command only 60 per cent of what those in London are taking home.

Workers on the bottom 10^th percentile in London will be earning less than £18,000 a year, less than £15,400 in the South East and less than £14,800 per annum in the rest of England, Scotland and Wales.

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “This new analysis shows how wage inequality has soared in parts of the UK over the last decade. This growing pay gap is bad news for our economy and bad news for living standards.

“The picture is particularly bleak in London and the South East, but in areas like the Midlands, the North West and the East of England a significant gulf has developed between top and bottom earners. Unless this trend stops now and more high-skilled jobs with decent pay are created, this worrying pattern is likely to become even more entrenched.

“Everyone must benefit from the recovery, not just those at the top. The TUC wants to see a greater commitment to pay the living wage from both government and employers, a crackdown on excessive executive pay, and modern wages councils which could set higher minimum wages where employers can afford to pay more.

“During Fair Pay Fortnight we’re asking workers to back our call to MPs to get all political parties to put decent pay at the top of their agendas in the run up to the election.”

PCS Walkout at Ofqual 26th March at 12.30 in support of Sofia Azam

PCS have informed the TUC of further strike action in support of Sofia Azam who has been sacked from Ofqual.  Please do what you can to suport Sofia and her union in this dispute.

No progress in ACAS talks
JOIN the walkout WEDNESDAY 26th MARCH at 12.30pm
Ofqual, Spring Place, Herald Avenue

Management at Ofqual, along with PCS, met ACAS this Wednesday to try and settle the dispute over the sacking of the PCS rep Sofia’s dismissal. Unfortunately, no progress was made.
Reps are not only disappointed, but angry over this outcome, and another half day walkout has been called for this Wednesday.

Background to the dispute
Management at Ofqual, the examinations qualifications regulator have sacked PCS branch chair Sofia Azam. PCS believe that this is a clear case of trade union victimisation and members in her branch have already staged a half day walk out last month.

We are calling on all trade unionists and supporters to Join us at 12.30 outside Ofqual, Spring Place, Herald Avenue, Coventry, CV5 6UB on Wednesday 26th March at 12.30 followed by a short rally at the Standard Triumph.

Please send messages of support and donations to:- PCS, C/O Andrew Lloyd, Regional Secretary, New Oxford House, 16 Waterloo St, Birmingham B2 5UG
Email andrewl@pcs.org.uk or kathyp@pcs.org.uk

Midlands Fair Pay Fortnight Newsletter Special Edition #1

Wage inequality has soared across both the East and West Midlands over the last 13 years according to new TUC analysis published today (Monday) to coincide with the beginning of the TUC’s first Fair Pay Fortnight which runs until Sunday 6 April 2014.

The figures – based on full-time earnings from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) – show that between 2000 (when the data was first collected) and 2013 the pay gap between the top 10 per cent and the bottom 10 per cent of earners in the east midlands rose by 5 per cent – and 7 per cent in the West Midlands.

This new analysis shows how wage inequality has soared in parts of the UK over the last decade. This growing pay gap is bad news for our economy and bad news for living standards.

The picture is particularly bleak in London and the South East, but in areas like the Midlands, the North West and the East of England a significant gulf has developed between top and bottom earners. Unless this trend stops now and more high-skilled jobs with decent pay are created, this worrying pattern is likely to become even more entrenched.

Everyone must benefit from the recovery, not just those at the top. The TUC wants to see a greater commitment to pay the living wage from both government and employers, a crackdown on excessive executive pay, and modern wages councils which could set higher minimum wages where employers can afford to pay more.

During Fair Pay Fortnight we’re asking workers to back our call to MPs to get all political parties to put decent pay at the top of their agendas in the run up to the election.”

The Midlands TUC, unions and trades councils will be hitting the streets to talk to people about our Fair Pay Fortnight campaign, details are listed below. Why not come along and tell us your pay story and how you are having to cope with rising prices for services food and fuel?

Rob Johnston

Midlands TUC Regional Secretary

For the full newsletter click on the link here