News / Politics
Bristol joins London march for better pay
Hundreds of Bristol trades union members have joined a huge march in London demanding a pay rise for workers across the country they say have been excluded from the economic recovery.
Members of the Unison and Unite unions made up the bulk of Bristol’s contingent which joined tens of thousands of protesters who marched from Victoria Embankment to Hyde Park.
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) said people are facing the biggest squeeze on their incomes since Victorian times, adding that average wages have fallen by £50 a week in real terms since 2008.
is needed now More than ever
TUC general secretary, Frances O’Grady, said the high turnout sent a strong message to the government that wages needed to rise.
“After the longest and deepest pay squeeze in recorded history, it’s time to end the lockout that has kept the vast majority from sharing in the economic recovery,” she said.
“Meanwhile, top directors now earn 175 times more than the average worker. If politicians wonder why so many feel excluded from the democratic process, they should start with bread-and-butter living standards.”
Union leaders called on the Labour Party to do more to support workers struggling against the effects of cuts.
Dave Prentis, general secretary of Unison, said 600 public sector jobs had been lost every day since the coalition came to power.
“We have a story of two nations – one where champagne corks are popping for the bankers and boardroom pay is soaring, while in the other world our people are suffering from poverty pay.”
Marchers supported calls for a pay rise for low-paid staff, but also showed their disappointment with union leaders who postponed strike action in local government offices this week.
Calls were heard for a general strike to keep up the pressure on the government during negotiations.
Tom Baldwin from the Bristol and District Anti-Cuts Alliance was one of the city’s marchers.
“The momentum for today was lost when the strike action was called off,” he said.
“There is real anger out there against austerity, the cuts and the effect on people’s pay, and there is an appetite for industrial action.
“But we would have had a greater impact today had the strikes gone ahead.”
Dennis, a Unison member working at Bristol City Council, agreed, adding: “It’s good the TUC have organised the action today, but they don’t want to cause too much trouble for Labour in the run-up to the next election.”
A Treasury spokesman said the government had overseen the “largest annual fall in unemployment, more people in work than ever before” and average inequality levels “lower than the average under the previous government”.
He said it proved the government’s “long-term economic plan is working”.
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
