Your Argus
TEXT your pictures, videos and messages to 80360. Start your message with SUPIC or email your tip-offs »
Pay deals falling behind inflation
6:52am Friday 29th August 2008
Average pay deals are increasing, but they are still falling further behind the rising rate of inflation, according to a report.
Settlements over the three months to July averaged 3.5%, up by 0.2% on the quarter to June, an analysis by pay specialists Industrial Relations Services (IRS) found.
But RPI inflation increased by 5% in the same period, leaving pay awards trailing price increases by 1.5%, said the report.
A study of over 80 settlements, covering more than 860,000 workers, showed that half of all deals were worth between 3% and 4.3%.
Sheila Attwood of IRS said: "Recent quarterly economic forecasts from the Bank of England, British Chambers of Commerce and Oxford Economics suggest that the UK's economic prospects have worsened significantly over the past few months.
"The labour market is expected to loosen as a result of this, which in turn is likely to reduce the level of pressure on wage demands.
"To what extent unemployment increases, and inflation falls, between now and the autumn, will be key to the level of pay awards we see at the start of the major bargaining activity in January 2009."
Bob Crow, general secretary of the Rail Maritime and Transport union said: "When inflation begins eating into workers' wages it is all the more important to set our sights on settlements that will protect living standards - not least when we know that the cost of many essentials is way ahead of the official inflation rate.
"It is not working people who have been over-extending themselves in the sub-prime mortgage market or stoking the debt mountain, and it is not they who should have to pay for the crisis with their living standards."
Editor's Choice
Eco-dilemmas solved
All the top tip columns make being green sound so easy: just change your light bulbs, walk to the shops and do your recycling, but it never really works out like that. SARAH LEWIS turns agony aunt and answers some of your pressing eco-questions.
Comment: Sign up to an NHS dentist to beat decay
When the new NHS dental contract was introduced, large numbers of dentists left the NHS and focused on private patients.
Woe of Woolies
Woolworths, one of the best-known names on the British high street, has been put into administration with £385 million of debt. As company bosses and administrators Deloitte wrestle with the task of rescuing the business, RICHARD GURNER takes a look back at the company’s history in Sussex and asks business leaders what needs to be done to revive its fortunes.
This week's walk: Horsted Keynes and Furner's Green
From the village of Horsted Keynes, this walk heads eastwards to encircle the nearby settlement of Danehill, crossing and recrossing two well-wooded valleys before returning along part of the Sussex Border Path, a longdistance walking route which sticks fairly closely to the boundary between East and West Sussex.
Average pay deals falling further behind the rising rate of inflation
In this section
Sponsored Links
Local Services
Local Information
Enter your postcode, town or place name
