TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady has said the government should negotiate “fair pay rises” with unions as the UK braces for economic recession.
The UK economy returned to growth in October after the additional bank holiday for the Queen’s funeral the month before. However, the government and many economists expect a difficult year ahead. The consensus among 15 forecasts collated by the government is for GDP to fall by 0.8% next year.
O’Grady said: “2022 has been the worst year for real wage growth in nearly half a century. We are now on the brink of a damaging recession with the threat of one million lost jobs.
“Ministers must act now to put money in people’s pockets – starting with boosting the minimum wage and giving our public sector workers a pay rise to match the cost of living.
“And the prime minister should stop attacking working people trying to defend their pay, and sit down to negotiate fair pay rises with unions.”
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