TUC reveals scale of lost earnings before July 10 mass strike
CON-DEM attacks on public-sector pay have robbed
workers of enough cash to feed their families for eight months straight —
from now until the general election.
Trade Union Congress (TUC) researchers
said yesterday that public-sector workers had lost the equivalent of
£2,245 a year through freezes and below-inflation rises since 2010.
Official figures put the cost of a typical family’s weekly
shop at £60 — meaning that the lost wages would have kept kitchens
stocked for 37 weeks.
The TUC’s shocking study comes on the eve of tomorrow’s enormous strike over years of real-terms pay cuts.
Workers across the country — from school crossing guards
to NHS staff, teachers to refuse workers — will walk out to demand an
end to the government’s assault.
Two million people belonging to unions
including PCS, GMB, FBU, RMT, the National Union of Teachers, Unison and
Unite are set to join picket lines.
“Wages are falling further behind the cost of living and
in the last four years some civil servants have seen their income fall
by 20 per cent,” said PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka.
“The meagre economic recovery is only benefiting the rich — we need a recovery for everyone.
