The TUC has called for an extension to the furlough scheme amid fears that unemployment will soar when the Government’s job support package ends at the end of this month.
Ahead of the organisation’s annual congress next week, the trade union group has called on ministers to extend the furlough scheme past the end of September and also maintain the £20 Universal Credit uplift that has helped thousands of key workers.
In an interview with ChronicleLive, TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said that the public’s desire to create a fairer economy after the pandemic remains strong, but the Government was “looking the other way” on workers’ rights.
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She was speaking after TUC polling was released showing that low-paid workers are almost twice as likely as those on higher wages to have cut back on spending since the pandemic began, and four times as likely to say they cannot afford time off when sick.
She said: “One of the quickest and most flexible ways to deal with inequality is to give working people bigger pay packets, stronger rights and more bargaining power. That’s one of the easiest ways to make a difference. It’s clear from the work we’ve done over the last year that what was already a massive problem of inequality has got even worse through the pandemic.
“But this should be an opportunity to reset that balance. We should be hard-wiring fairness into what we do next and every decision the Government takes.”
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In the light of goods shortages resulting from a lack of HGV drivers, Ms O’Grady said the Government had missed a trick with the furlough system in not using the downtime and linking job support to retraining and increasing people’s skill levels.
But with around a million people still thought to be on furlough, she said: “All of us would pay a very high price for mass unemployment, not just the misery it inflicts on families but also the economy.
“We’ve still got about a million people left on furlough in industries that have a good future and are viable. In some cases, like aviation, they’re strategically important. Let’s get around the table and make sure we don’t give up just as we’re getting to the final hurdle.
“Those industries and jobs need support and the alternative of unemployment will cost us all more in the long run.
“It’s young workers in a lot of these industries – arts and culture, hospitality, food and accommodation. These are very often young people’s jobs: they’ve had a tough old time and it’s the very least we can do to support them.”
The TUC has called for the Government to ban zero hours contracts, raise the minimum wage to at
least £10, increase statutory sick pay to the real living wage level and
introduce new bargaining rights for workers.
The intervention comes just a few days after new research released suggested the 海角视频 could see an increase in unemployment when the furlough scheme comes to an end.
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The Resolution Foundation said furlough had been an “overwhelming success” in protecting over 11 million jobs since last March, but there were signs that the labour market remains “far from full health”.
Elsewhere, business groups the British Chambers of Commerce and the Federation of Small Businesses have both issued warnings that the Government’s planned rise in National Insurance could cost jobs in the near future.
FSB chair Mike Cherry said: “This regressive levy hits employers and sole traders without meaningful regard for how their business is performing. This increase will stifle recruitment, investment and efforts to upskill and improve productivity in the years ahead.”