Unite leader says, hundreds of disputes, involving tens of thousands of workers, will resist employers attacks on workers’ living standards.
- Friday 15 July 2022
Unite press release
For immediate release: Friday 15 July 2022
Unite leader says, hundreds of disputes, involving tens of thousands of workers, will resist employers attacks on workers’ living standards.
Sharon Graham says it’s time to stop telling workers to pay the price for inflation, and demand an end to excessive profiteering.
The head of Britain’s leading union, Sharon Graham has warned there could be hundreds of disputes involving tens of thousands of workers, if workers are made to “pay the price for inflation”. She said," Ordinary workers have already had a spring, summer, autumn and winter of discontent for years”.
In an exclusive interview with the BBC to be broadcast tonight, Unite’s general secretary branded calls to limit pay rises to try to counter the cost of living crisis “abhorrent” saying employers making a profit from workers should pay them “a proper fair wage”. See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62158667 .
In the ten months since Sharon Graham was elected general secretary, an unprecedented 63,000 Unite members have gone into dispute winning over £50 million, in pay deals.
Unite general secretary, Sharon Graham said: "Workers are growing in confidence and becoming more assertive. Since I was elected, 63,000 Unite members have gone into dispute winning over £50 million.
“There could be hundreds of disputes involving tens of thousands of people over the coming months if workers are made to pay the price for inflation.
"Calls for wage restraint by employers who slashed pay during the pandemic are abhorrent. Ordinary workers have already had a spring, summer, autumn and winter of discontent for years. It’s time to stop telling workers to pay the price for inflation and to start demanding an end to excessive profiteering.”
It’s inflation and corporate profits, not workers’ wages, which are at the heart of the cost of living crisis currently gripping the UK according to a compelling new report. The Unite report ‘Corporate Profiteering and the Cost of Living Crisis’ argues that it is time to demand restraint on profiteering not pay.
The report reveals that in the pandemic years the profit margins of the FTSE top 350 companies rose by a staggering 73%. It also revealed that in the last six months the spiral of company profits is responsible for almost 60% of the current inflation rise, whilst wage rises accounted for only 8%.
ENDS
Contact: Ciaran Naidoo on 07768 931 315
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Unite is the UK and Ireland’s leading union fighting to protect and advance jobs, pay and conditions for members working across all sectors of the economy. The general secretary is Sharon Graham.
