Poorly paid health and care workers are calling sick because they can’t afford to fill their cars with petrol to travel to work, the UK’s largest union leader has warned.
Boris Johnson said on Thursday that the UK economy was “heading in the wind”, but warned of a “wage-price spiral” as the cost of a fuel tank hit a record £ 100.
Christina McAnea, general secretary of the Unison utilities union, said some of its members are likely to go on strike in the coming months in the face of real-life wage cuts as the cost of living crisis worsens.
“[Petrol price rises are] have a big impact on people with jobs that force them to travel. So, community health workers, health visitors, health workers, social workers … they’re just saying they can’t afford to do their job, “he said.
“We’re really listening to people who prefer to call sick people because they don’t have the money to fill their cars and do their jobs. And more and more people are leaving public services, even in the local administration. There are many vacancies in local government “.
He said of the prospect of a strike: “We don’t want low-paid workers to go on strike. But if there is no alternative, what else can people do?
“If we have a government where it is receiving wage increases of 2-3% and we have inflation of 10% or even more at the end of the year and they already pay a disproportionate amount of their income from fuel, housing costs , energy and food, if you are a poorly paid worker … that has a big impact on people. “
McAnea, who was a housing officer in Glasgow before becoming a full-time union official, said Unison is already voting local government staff in Scotland on industrial action, which could lead to the closure of Glasgow. schools.
“We don’t want to upset people and we know that this has a big impact on people. But there comes a point where there is no alternative, “he said.” The same could happen in England and Wales. I’m not saying there will be strikes tomorrow, but there is a lot of anger out there and people are getting more desperate. “
His warning came as train strikes by RMT union members are expected to wreak havoc later this month. Two other unions representing drivers and support staff, Aslef and the TSSA, are also considering industrial action later in the summer, raising the threat of a full national closure.
The Prime Minister has previously pledged to transform the UK into a “high-wage economy”, but on Thursday warned that rising wages to inflation in the current circumstances run the risk of a “wage-price spiral” “in the style of the seventies.
Thinktank, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), warned this week that growth in the UK could slow next year, making it the weakest developed economy apart from Russia. but with inflation still painful.
Ministers are expected to announce a number of public sector pay agreements in the coming weeks, including nurses.
As evidence in the NHS salary review body earlier this year, the government said there was “extremely limited space for any additional investment in pay” and that “financial constraint” was needed.
The TUC warns that pushing the 3% deal that the Department of Health and Social Welfare has suggested would mean a real-time pay cut of £ 1,600 for nurses, with inflation at 9%, and is expected to increase.
Along with GMB and Unite, Unison this week filed a wage claim for local government workers, including school staff in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, demanding a salary increase of at least £ 2,000.
McAnea said: “Wage moderation is completely inadequate when it comes to people in local government. About 50% of local government workers earn less than £ 25,000 a year.
“If you’re a care worker, if you do a job in the community and you have to go visit people, and it’s hard for you to fill £ 100 – it’s not possible.”
His warning came when Johnson urged petrol retailers to “be responsible” and “watch over consumers” amid government concern that the 5p reduction in fuel tax announced in the statement Rishi Sunak’s spring was not moving entirely to bikers.
“We’re watching it, and of course we expect corporations to be responsible,” Johnson said as he delivered a speech on the economy in Blackpool.
Data from the data company Experian Catalist show that the average price of a liter of petrol in the courtyards of the United Kingdom reached a record 182.3 pence on Wednesday.
That was an increase of 1.6 pence compared to Tuesday, bringing the average cost of filling a 55-liter family car to £ 100.27. Simon Williams of the RAC described it as “a really dark day for drivers”.
It is understood that ministers are examining the possibility of naming and embarrassing retailers who take advantage of rising global energy prices to increase their margins.
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A government source stressed that the measure had been used successfully before (with profits in Covid tests, for example), but warned that it was more complex with fuel due to fluctuations in pump prices up to several times a day.
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has already written to retailers urging them to behave responsibly and asked the competition control body to look into the matter.