When Labour members last year backed a £15 an hour minimum wage at their annual conference, Sir Keir Starmer ignored the vote. This year the Labour leader won’t be able to easily shrug off the policy. Real pay is falling faster than ever. Inflation could reach 18% next year – the highest since 1976. Against this backdrop, the Trades Union Congress is calling for a £15 minimum wage, up from £9.50. This appears a big step, but it ought not to surprise anyone. Britain is seeing a series of strikes being announced as workers seek pay rises in the face of the cost of living crisis. Alan Jones, the industrial correspondent of PA Media, thinks Britain is as close now to a general strike as it has ever been.
With high inflation eating into most people’s incomes and only the top 1% seeing salaries keep up with prices, conflict over wages is all but inevitable. The TUC plan rests on raising the minimum wage from two-thirds of median hourly pay to three-quarters. It calls for a demand-led approach to the economy. Crucially, the TUC says Britain needs a collective bargaining structure that not only sets a minimum but some average rates of sector pay. In Europe, such schemes have seen more income equality and higher pay growth. If wages grew as fast as they did under the last Labour government, the TUC says, the minimum wage would hit £15 an hour in 2030. Sir Keir ought to be as ambitious as the last Labour administration.
