WIREDGOV

The TUC has criticised the lack of action in the Chancellor’s Spring Statement yesterday (Tuesday).

Real wage growth in 2018 is forecast to be just 0.3%. And in 2022/23 wages will still be worth less than before the financial crisis fifteen years earlier.

Economic growth, forecast at 1.5% in 2018, will leave the UK with joint weakest growth for G7 nations.

But despite the weak forecasts, the Chancellor has chosen to keep capital investment well below the OECD average and is continuing to peg back public sector pay.

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:

“This was not the jumpstart the British economy needed. The Chancellor had nothing to say to workers hit by falling wages, to communities where there are few decent jobs, or about our public services stretched to breaking point.

“Working people shouldn’t have to wait until the autumn budget for the Chancellor to act. He should boost wages now by giving public servants a proper, funded pay rise. And he should set up a new National Investment Bank to get investment to communities with outdated infrastructure and low productivity. This would attract new business and create better-quality, better-paid jobs.”

Editors note

• For more information on the action the TUC believes is needed to strengthen the economy, increase wages and improve the quality of jobs, see our Spring Statement report: https://www.tuc.org.uk/sites/default/files/TUC-spring-statement-2018.pdf
• The Trades Union Congress (TUC) exists to make the working world a better place for everyone. We bring together more than 5.5 million working people who make up our 49 member unions. We support unions to grow and thrive, and we stand up for everyone who works for a living.