A ‘workers’ economy’
As Unite’s workplace might spreads to electoral battleground seats it’s time to create a ‘Workers’ Economy’
Just as uniteEXTRA went to press, inflation hit a 40-year high, with the latest figures showing the RPI measure skyrocketing to 12.3 per cent in July, up from 11.8 per cent in June. The newest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that rising food prices were the main driver of the latest rise in inflation, with food items as a whole rising by 12.7 per cent in July, up from 9.4 per cent the previous month. Prices for basics such as bread, milk, cheese and eggs have risen the fastest over the last month. The latest grim inflation figures are yet more bad news for millions of workers and their families, after new data from the ONS showed that the value of UK workers’ wages has fallen at the fastest rate in over 20 years this June.
Ever rising costs
Some astonishing price hikes over last 12 months
Price per litre of petrol in 2021: 124.84p; in 2022: 191.10p – a 53% increase Price of pint of milk in 2021: 42p; in 2022: 59p – a 40% increase Price of loaf of white bread 2021: £1.06; in 2022: £1.24 – a 16% increase Price of block of butter 2021: £1.73; in 2022: £2.14 – a 24% increase Price of dozen eggs 2021: £2.07; in 2022: £2.22 – a 7% increase Price of value pasta 500g in 2021: 29p; in 2022: 70p – a 141% increase Tin of baked beans in 2021: 22p; in 2022: 32p – a 45% increase Bag of small apples in 2021: 59p; in 2022: 89p – a 51% increase
Value rice 1kg in 2021: 45p; in 2022: £1 for just 500g – 344% equivalent increase
Peanut butter in 2021: 62p; in 2022: £1.50 – a 142% increase Mushrooms, 400g in 2021: 59p; in 2022: for just 250g 57p – a 56% equivalent increase
Unite has reiterated that the latest spike in inflation, accompanied by a steep drop in wages, once again highlights the fact that it is profiteering causing inflation, not wages. “Our economy isn’t working for workers, only for corporate Britain and its rich backers,” said Unite general secretary Sharon Graham. “It’s time for workers and communities to fight back. It’s time for us to build a movement for real change based on a unity of the workplace with local communities – popular working class power.”
‘Building a movement for real change’
‘Building a movement for real change’ is exactly what Unite is now doing by ramping up its ‘Jobs, Pay, Conditions’ campaign, taking it from the workplace into local communities. With the aim of unifying collectivism at the workplace and within local communities, the union will now look to drive the political agenda as opposed to commenting on it. This initiative began with a billboard campaign in August, ‘Unite for a Workers’ Economy’, where a series of billboards in key battle-ground seats were displayed up and down the UK, including Glasgow, Grimsby, Hull, Leigh, Barrow, Workington, Morecombe, Derby and Crawley.
The billboards, with key messages, answered the question, ‘Who is responsible for this crisis?’ As Unite has been clear, the answer is not workers but corporate profiteering. Commenting on the billboard campaign, Sharon Graham said, “Over the last 12 months Unite has delivered at the workplace winning over £150m for members in dispute. As promised in my manifesto, Unite will now use that power to do the same within our communities.
‘Totally new approach’
“Too often workers are taken for granted, their concerns ignored while politicians protect corporate profits at the expense of wages and services,” she added. “No amount of lobbying in Westminster will change that. We need a totally new approach. “We need to build power in our workplaces and simultaneously organise in our communities. Unite will establish permanent bases on the ground to work with workers within their communities. We will help deliver practical change that people can touch and feel. And we will develop our own programme - a Workers’ Manifesto. “It’s time to do things differently. It is time for the trade union movement to lead.”
