Up to a third of workers in the South West are in danger of losing their jobs, a new report by the TUC says.
The organisation representing trade unions said 878,800 workers are currently on Government schemes, such as being furloughed, and are therefore vulnerable to being made redundant when this support is wound down.
The TUC is therefore calling on Chancellor Rishi Sunak to step up help for employees when he delivers his “mini-Budget” on Wednesday, July 8.
The TUC itself has set out a plan to prevent mass unemployment following the coronavirus pandemic, with secure jobs and decent pay for working families.
The report A Better Recovery for the South West warns there is a high risk of mass unemployment in the South West if the region does not have a recovery plan centred on protecting and creating jobs, backed by major investment.
This comes as the trade union body publishes its latest analysis on the number of jobs at risk by local authority in the South West region.
Workers who have required support from the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS)and Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) are most likely to face unemployment risks in the months ahead, the TUC said.
In the South West region, TUC analysis estimates at least 878,800 workers, which is 32% of the workforce, have required support from these schemes.
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The local authorities in the region with the highest proportion of workers seeking support through these schemes are Cornwall, and Torbaym with 37% of the workforce on a scheme, and Dorset at 36%.
In Plymouth the figure is 30% and in Bristol 28%. Exeter has 25% of workers on an emergency support scheme during the Covid-19 crisis.
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According to the report, rural and coastal communities with lower average pay and higher insecure employment have been especially affected, thus exposing the cracks in the region’s economy.
On top of these figures, there are many other people who have been laid-off or who entered the employment market during the crisis and unable to find work, and are ineligible for the Government support schemes, the TUC said.
The pandemic alone did not cause the current crisis, the union body stressed, but said it was made worse by a decade of “deep cuts” to councils and services, and “a failure to strengthen the South West economy”, said the TUC.
It said that choosing a wrong approach now risks embedding low growth, long-term unemployment and all the social ills that go alongside.
Its report recommends an approach based on recently published TUC research which found that the fastest recoveries from economic crises in 海角视频 history were based on investment for growth.
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An investment for growth approach must be resourced by central Government, the TUC said and will need action at regional level in three key areas:
Investing in jobs: Combined authorities, councils and local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) should work in partnership with trade unions and businesses to secure investment for infrastructure needs; leverage public sector spending to support jobs and enterprise, and develop a regional-level green industrial strategy that builds on the region’s strengths to meet climate targets’
Decent work and a new way of doing business: Combined authorities, councils and LEP’s should attach conditions to commissioning and procurement that will improve job quality, strengthen worker voice, increase training opportunities and tackle discrimination and disadvantage in the workplace.
Rebuilding public services: Combined Authorities and local authorities should adopt a policy of managing all services in-house by default, so they can raise employment and delivery standards, and strengthen the resilience of essential services such as social care.
The report also calls for the formation of a regional recovery panel with representation from unions, employers, Job Centre Plus, relevant civic partners and local and regional government.
Regional panels would work in tandem with a 海角视频 National Recovery Panel to turn headline objectives into tailored strategies for each region.
The TUC said regional structures with devolved powers are essential to achieving the best recovery possible, because the nature and scale of the challenge varies greatly across different parts of the 海角视频.
Both the regional and national bodies should have worker representation so that workers’ voices are at the heart of decision-making for recovery plans.
Nigel Costley . TUC regional secretary. Said: “People are very worried about their jobs. Many have been laid off already. And just last week, our unions received dozens of redundancy notifications – with many more expected to come. This situation is only going to get worse unless something is done now.
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“Losing your job is a dreadful experience – devastating for families. And devastating for our communities. If we allow mass unemployment to take hold, our economy will be smaller, and the recovery, much slower.
“That’s why investing in good jobs is at the heart of our recovery plan for the South West. Jobs in a reborn manufacturing sector. Jobs in the green tech we need to safeguard our future. More and better jobs in our revived tourism and creative sectors. It’s just common sense.
“And we must value our public services much more than we did before. Because after 10 long years of cuts, our key workers found it much harder than it should have been.
“Our communities will always remember the key workers who kept us going through the crisis. But the people with the power to do more – the politicians - they must not forget.
“This week, we’re asking the Chancellor to put his faith in the people of the South West with big and bold investment. If he backs us in this way, we can avoid mass unemployment, work our way to recovery and build back better.”