WIREDGOV

The Wales TUC is calling for voters to elect a new Welsh Government that will prioritise greater workplace equality and fight to make Wales a Fair Work nation.

• New data from Wales TUC/YouGov survey of workers in Wales shows investment in the public sector is the number one priority – alongside investment in green infrastructure.
• There is support for pay rises for all public sector workers – with particularly strong support for nurses, care workers, hospital porters and cleaners.
• Workers also back further devolution of powers to Cardiff Bay – preferring the Welsh Government to make decisions on welfare, taxation and economic development.
• General Secretary Shavanah Taj said: “We need a Welsh Government that is going to fight for good jobs, stronger unions, and a more equal Wales.”

The call comes as new data from YouGov, commissioned by the Wales TUC, and detailed in the organisation’s new Securing a Fair Recovery report shows:

• Workers’ leading priority for the recovery is increasing funding for public services like the NHS, social care and local government – with 42% selecting it. Investment in green infrastructure – broadband, electric transport, home retrofits – is also favoured.
• Workers want pay rises across the board for public sector professions. Nurses (85%), care workers (82%), hospital porters and cleaners (77%) garner particularly strong levels of public support.
• Support for a ban on zero-hours contracts (55%-26%) and for rent controls in the private rental sector (66%-8%).
• Workers also back key decisions about Wales being taken in Wales on health (56%-29%), education (60%-27%), economic development (53%-30%), welfare (47%-37%) and taxation (43%-40%).
• By a margin of almost three to one, workers believe that the Welsh economy needs to be rebalanced with stronger regulation to protect workers’ rights.

Wales TUC General Secretary, Shavanah Taj, yesterday said: 

“The last year has shown the grim reality of our labour market for tens of thousands of workers across Wales. Young workers, BAME workers, and people in insecure work have been disproportionately hit – losing jobs, income, skills and opportunities.

“We’ve worked with the Welsh Government to get a better deal for Welsh workers – whether that’s strengthening the Covid safety legislation to ensure safer workplaces or pushing for action on pay and conditions in the social care sector.

“But if we’re to rebuild a fairer and more resilient Wales then we now need to go further and faster.

“We need a Welsh Government that is going to fight for good jobs, stronger unions, and a more equal Wales.”

In its Workers’ Manifesto for a Fairer Wales the Wales TUC has called for: 

• Investment in Wales’ green infrastructure that could see 60,000 green jobs created in the next two years.
• Increased skills funding.
• Welsh Government to deliver on its Race Equality Action Plan to tackle systemic racial injustices in Wales.

Editors Note

• All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc.  Total sample size was 1,194 adults. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all adults in Wales (aged 16+).More detail on the polling findings and the full Securing a Fair Recovery report can be read here: What Workers in Wales Want: 5 Priorities for the Next Senedd Term | TUC

Contacts: 

Joe Allen

jallen@tuc.org.uk

078 775 295 68