Pay packets in Liverpool are set to be worth more than £1,100 a year less this year – in real terms, that is once inflation has been taken into consideration – than in 2021, according to new TUC analysis.
The analysis of official data shows that average real wages will fall by around £1,102 compared to last year.
The stark findings are published as the TUC brings together union leaders and workers at Quaker Meeting House on Thursday ahead of the union body’s National Day of Action to demand better for working people – and a parliamentary lobby on 2 November.
The analysis shows the median salary in Liverpool in 2021 was £25,005. TUC analysis, based on Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts, shows the value of wages in Liverpool will fall by around £1,102 as soaring inflation outstrips the increase in wages.
The TUC says years of stagnating pay have left workers “badly exposed” to Britain’s cost of living crisis.
The union body says the government must take urgent action to raise wages and protect families from spiralling household costs.
Urgent action
The TUC says ministers must do far more to give families long-term financial security.
The TUC says ministers must:
Raise wages and improve workers’ rights by:
· Introducing a £15 minimum wage as soon as possible
· Giving all public sector workers a real pay rise
· Banning zero-hours contracts and fire and rehire
· Bringing forward inflation-proof raises to universal credit and pensions to October
Introducing new bargaining rights for whole industries and protecting the right to strike
Raising women’s incomes and stopping workplace racism
Reduce household costs by:
· Cutting energy bills, nationalising energy retail and setting up a new public energy champion
· Rolling out a rapid programme of home insulation
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:
“Nobody who works for a living should be losing sleep over how they will pay their bills this winter.
“But soaring costs mean pay packets in Liverpool have taken a rapid fall – in real terms – in just 12 months.
“Everything is going up but wages. Years of pay stagnation have left workers badly exposed to Britain’s cost of living crisis.
“The prime minister and chancellor may have u-turned on their decision to hand out tax cuts to millionaires, but they’re still letting bankers’ bonuses rip and cutting taxes for big business, while ignoring the crisis facing families.
“Things can’t go on like this. The government must do far more to get pay rising, and to protect workers from skyrocketing bills.
“We’re coming together in an autumn of action to demand better for all workers.”
TUC North West Regional Secretary Jay McKenna added:
“Families are under intolerable financial pressure with costs spiralling out of control.
“Liverpool is a great city with great people, but workers here are facing the biggest fall in living standards in generations.
“We’re bringing unions, local workers, and community activists together to say all workers deserve better. The government must do more to help working people have a decent standard of living – starting with getting wages rising.
“Now is the time for workers to come together.”
