Unions are increasingly working with the environmental movement. We represent – or stand in solidarity with – many of those most likely to be badly hit by climate change. Union campaigns for health and safety in the workplace have always had much in common with wider campaigns against pollution. Many environmentalists have a similar commitment to social justice and internationalism that inform the best kinds of trade unionism – the victims of environmental degradation are usually the people for whom unions speak. Unions know that we need big changes in the way the economy work – and have helped put the concept of just transition on the international agenda.

But there are problems too. Read more »

   Filed under: Earnings, Economics, Energy, Environment | 28 Comments »

Today the Resolution Foundation launches two reports exploring the financial health of low earners. The Low Earners Audit takes an overview of how the UK’s 7.2 million households living on below median income but independently of state support are faring in the recession. Behind the Balance Sheet complements this overview by going beyond the front door and exploring how low income households juggle their money on a daily basis.

Month after month the Labour Market Statistics drive home the point that it is the UK’s 9.4 million working age low earners, not the middle class bankers, who have been worst hit by this recession. As a report we published last year showed, unemployment increases have been steepest in industries and occupations where low-skilled, low paid work is concentrated. People in typical low earner occupations are more likely than others to remain out of work for more than six months. Read more »

   Filed under: Earnings, Recession, unemployment | 3 Comments »

There are many causes behind migration. One of the commonest cited is skill shortages. But as liberal economists argue, that’s often a misnomer. All that is in fact happening is a wage shortage: raise the wages and sufficient skilled workers will appear. Today, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and KPMG have issued a report today which suggests the liberal economists are right. They say that employers facing skill shortages would employ more British workers if they could pay them less (rather suggesting the skills are available, but at a price employers don’t want to pay).

Exploiting migrant workers to undercut the existing workforce simply sets worker against worker. And whilst employers may benefit in the short run from lower wage costs, the BNP are more likely to be the long term beneficiaries.

Instead, unions have been arguing that paying migrants the same as the existing workforce (and giving them all the other rights we have won over the years) is the best way to combat exploitation, undercutting and racial strife. The national minimum wage has had some effect in making undercutting less possible, but the CIPD take potshots at that, too. Read more »

   Filed under: Earnings, Migration, Minimum wage | 1 Comment »

Reporting of pay trends in recent months has fallen back on a bunch of shared assumptions about what people have been paid last year and are likely to be paid this year. Unfortunately a lot of them are just plain wrong.

Here’s my top ten pay myths – see how many you can spot in your favourite newspaper: Read more »

   Filed under: Earnings, Recession | 1 Comment »

The Institute for Fiscal Studies published their Green Budget last week in which they look at the Chancellor’s options in the forthcoming budget. It is not exactly a bundle of laughs.

But they do have an extremely useful round up of trends in public sector pay. Richard has already drawn attention to their statement:

Overall, pay levels in the public sector are probably not significantly out of line with those of similar workers in the private sector, once you take into account factors such as their age, education and qualifications.” Read more »

   Filed under: Earnings, Public services, Public spending | 2 Comments »

It is a strange logic that concludes that a financial crisis that started in the top echelons of banking should be resolved by freezing the pay of nurses, teachers and social workers. Yet since early last year a growing clamour of voices, led by much of the press and then followed by many shades of politicians, have called for public sector pay freezes to resolve financial instability caused by the economic crisis. As part of this process there has been a widespread misreading of the official earnings statistics to try to show that all public sector workers earn more than all private sector workers. Read more »

   Filed under: Earnings, Public spending | 1 Comment »

Last year, the newspapers were full of stories about pay freezes and cuts; the employers’ organisations picked this up, of course, and tried to persuade us that this was happening to everyone. Or, that if you were a public sector worker, it should be. The reality has not been this simple. Read more »

   Filed under: Earnings | 1 Comment »

At single parent charity Gingerbread, we’ve been researching how single parents’ incomes and spending patterns compare with families with two parents. Our new report ‘Family Finances’ shows that lone parents’ poverty and struggles to get by can’t simply be blamed on bad choices about money.

In doing the research for this report, we were interested in finding out whether single parents were lacking key financial products, and what patterns there were in their attitudes towards money and their ‘financial capability’. We also wanted to know what their priorities were for Government action to improve their financial situation, and how they thought banks and building societies could help.  The report presents the full analysis but here’s some of the highlights. Read more »

   Filed under: Child poverty, Earnings | 2 Comments »

Regular readers will be following my occasional series looking at the differences between public and private sector pay, prompted by the regular attacks on the public sector by the small state right. Most of this has been a bit dull and geeky as I want to be more careful with the stats than our critics often are, though it has got quite lively. But what about gender? Read more »

   Filed under: Earnings, Equality, Public services | 1 Comment »

A number of right wing commentators and newspapers have been keen to highlight this morning that yesterday’s labour market statistics identified an ‘historic’ gap between public and private sector earnings.

What’s being mentioned is only half the story though. Nicola has a blog post up at Left Foot Forward, filling us in on the half that hasn’t been reported.

   Filed under: Earnings, Public services | 3 Comments »