TRADE union leaders on Thursday gave their response to Chancellor Hunt’s austerity war on workers in his Autumn Statement.
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: ‘The Conservatives crashed the economy – now they are making working people take the hit. This is a recession made in 10 Downing Street, which will put jobs at risk and hit workers’ wages.
‘We are all paying the price for the last decade of Tory governments, which decimated growth and living standards. Today’s statement shows it will be two decades until real wages recover.
‘Millions of key workers across the public sector – who got us through the pandemic – face years of pay misery as departmental budgets are brutally squeezed.
‘The chancellor talked about everyone making sacrifices, but the super-rich have once again been let off the hook – token tweaks to tax will do little to dent their bank balances.
‘This is a government more interested in rewarding wealth than work. This is a government choosing to hold down the wages of nurses and teachers while it allows bankers unlimited bonuses.
‘This winter, workers will be taking action to defend their jobs and pay. They need a government that is on their side – not one determined to hold down their pay at any cost.’
Huge public service cuts
Recent TUC and NEF analysis showed that an additional £43bn a year (2022/23 prices) would be needed by 2024/25 just to ‘stand still’ and ensure real spending on public services stays at the level set out in the October 2021 spending review.
Thursday’s autumn statement fails to deliver that funding and means that real-terms spending cuts are being inflicted on our public services now.’
TUC analysis also showed that many frontline staff will see the value of their pay packets shrink again if the government imposes a 2% pay settlement for 2023/24:
- Hospital porters’ real pay will be down by £1,000.
- Maternity care assistants’ real pay will be down by £1,200.
- Nurses’ real pay will be down by £1,500.
- Paramedics’ and midwives’ real pay will be down by nearly £1,900.
The TUC says that key workers in the NHS have already endured a ‘brutal decade’ of pay cuts and pay freezes.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: ‘Our economy is broken. This Autumn Statement is not for working people.
‘The chancellor has taxed income over wealth, backed City bankers instead of nurses and chosen profiteers over public services. He has made political choices based on rules that he himself has the power to change.
‘As for the Labour Party, they appear to have accepted the economic premise of the black hole rather than challenge it. That is a mistake.
‘We are stuck in an economic straitjacket. Our political class repackage the same failed approach crisis after crisis, choosing to put a sticking plaster on a wound that needs surgery. In a country where the wealth of billionaires rockets whilst pay is cut and the gap between the super-rich and the rest grows, we need do more than appease the markets.’
Unison general secretary Christina McAnea said in her blog: ‘Twelve years of the Tory “experiment” of austerity have only seen sluggish growth and damaged public services – more of the same won’t suddenly produce better results
‘Fiscal competence, sound money and economic stability. These buzz words are sensible aims for a government, but don’t describe the achievements of the one that’s been in power for 12 years in Westminster.
‘Their long “experiment” with austerity has left a legacy that can only point to failure. Starving the NHS and all public services of funding has done nothing for economic growth. It’s resulted in struggling services, declining pay for the people providing them, and a recruitment and retention crisis – particularly in the NHS.
‘As Jeremy Hunt admits the NHS is “on the brink of collapse” and Rishi Sunak rightly points out that “we face a profound economic crisis”, how can they think that austerity will fix it?
‘Despite the chancellor’s claims of wanting to “protect the vulnerable, because to be British is to be compassionate”, it’s reported that free school meals in England won’t be expanded, energy bills will rise dramatically again in April, and despite public sector pay lagging way behind inflation and private sector pay, it’s about to be capped at 2%.’
Gary Smith, GMB general secretary, said: ‘The Tories have crashed the economy but it’s working people who are paying the bill.
‘The Chancellor has decided to double down on the Conservatives’ recipe for recession, ushering in a new era of austerity in public services.
‘NHS workers from nurses and porters to paramedics, who put their lives on the line during the pandemic, are being thanked with yet another big real-terms pay cut.
‘Meanwhile he’s ducked the big decisions on defence and hydrogen spending and long-term investment is being slashed – stagnation is here to stay with this government.
‘Even the Minimum Wage is being cut in real terms – it’s clear the government no longer believes in clapping key workers and prefers to stick two-fingers up instead.
‘This disgraceful Tory government is out of ideas, out of time, and should be out of office.’
Dr Mary Bousted, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union, said: ‘Today’s budget demonstrates the scale of this government’s failure to grow the economy.
‘It presages a terrible period of austerity where household disposable income per person will be the biggest on record, taking incomes down to 2013 levels. Teachers know what this means – more children coming to school hungry, cold and unable to learn.
‘The government’s announced increase in school funding is clearly a result of both the relaunch last week of the School Cuts campaign with NAHT, ASCL and Parentkind, and of the ballots for fully-funded inflation-proof pay rises.
‘Any additional funding for our schools will meet some of their desperate need. However, the money announced by the Chancellor will not be sufficient to prevent schools from having to make cuts. It will still result in schools having less funding than in 2015.
‘Public services have been cut to the bone. For schools and colleges, there are no more efficiency savings to make.
‘Schools are more than buildings and materials. Teachers and support staff are also homeowners, renters, consumers and parents. The impact of rising costs will be felt by all, and it is simply not sustainable for them to continue with real-terms pay cuts.
‘Teacher pay had already fallen by 20% in real terms between 2010 and 2021, even before the government’s attempt to impose another huge real-terms pay cut against inflation in 2022. Support staff pay has fallen by 27% over the same period. The latest teacher pay deal offered by government is well below inflation. The much-vaunted increases to teacher starting pay are also well below inflation.
‘If benefits and pensions are both to rise in line with inflation, then the same should also be true for pay. Today’s announcement on additional money for schools and colleges could go towards funding a pay rise, but it would still not be enough.
‘Yesterday, the government issued its remit letter to the School Teachers’ Review Body advocating a 2% pay rise for 2023/24, which would represent yet another real-terms cut. This is surely a mixed message that will do nothing to resolve the longstanding recruitment and retention crisis in the profession, and will not avert the pay strike on which our members are currently balloting. The case for a fully funded, above inflation pay rise remains.
‘Jeremy Hunt speaks of wanting to continue to raise standards in schools, but his position on food poverty will deter this. Good nutrition and regular meals are what make the difference for many disadvantaged pupils. It ensures they can fully engage in learning and thrive at school. The government could have used this moment to help the millions of children facing food poverty by widening the eligibility of free school meals but are apparently happy to see children go hungry whilst at school.’
