Government urged to raise minimum wage to £15 an hour as low-paid pushed to ‘brink’

April Curtin

The government argues that raising the minimum wage could push unemployment up

Brits should be on a minimum of £15 an hour as the cost of living crisis worsens, trade union bosses argue.

Inflation hit a double digit, 40-year high last week, soaring from 9.4 per cent in June to 10.1 per cent in July, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS) data. This is the highest it has been since February 1982.

This week, experts warned that inflation could surge to 18.6 per cent by January, the highest in almost half a century.

Meanwhile, wages fell at the fastest rate since records began, dropping three per cent after inflation between April and June, ONS data also showed. Regular pay, excluding bonuses, increased by 4.7 per cent over the quarter but still failed to keep up with inflation.

Now, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) is urging ministers to bump up minimum wage as soon as possible to help Brits make ends meet amid the crisis.

BREAKING 🚨🚨 | We've just launched our campaign for a £15 minimum wage.

— Trades Union Congress (@The_TUC) August 23, 2022

Minimum wage for those aged 23 and over is currently £9.50, and £9.18 for 21 and 22-year-olds.

The government believes raising the minimum wage could push unemployment up, noting how the minimum wage increase in April was the largest ever.

However the TUC argues that, at a time when companies are paying increased dividends to shareholders, ministers should ensure Brits get their “fair share” by increasing the minimum wage now, rather than waiting for the next expected rise in April.

Posting on Twitter, the union said: “Millions of low-paid workers are being pushed to the brink by eye-watering bills and soaring prices. Yet companies are making record profits and handing massive pay rises to those at the very top.”

It added: “We’ve been told for too long that businesses can’t afford to pay higher wages. It’s time to put an end to low-pay Britain.”

The TUC believes the government needs to give working people a fair share of the wealth they create, set a new minimum wage target at 75 per cent of average pay – which is currently 66 per cent – and return the UK to normal wage growth.

Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the TUC, said: “Every worker should be able to afford a decent standard of living.

“But millions of low-paid workers live wage packet to wage packet, struggling to get by – and they are now being pushed to the brink by eye-watering bills and soaring prices.”

It’s time to put an end to low-pay Britain. https://t.co/9jtAFZeBs9

— Frances O'Grady (@FrancesOGrady) August 23, 2022

Grady argues that a higher minimum wage would make workers less likely to claim in-work benefits, and more likely to be paying taxes, as well as buying goods and services on the high street.

She said: “We can’t keep lurching from crisis to crisis. Working families need long-term financial security – that means reversing the destructive trend of standstill wages.

“Ministers should introduce fair pay agreements to get pay and productivity rising in low-paid sectors.”

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