Northern Ireland is and remains a low wage economy. Wages have consistently lagged behind the rest of the UK for over 20 years and NI is one of the poorest regions in the UK. Invest NI still market this place as a low cost economy where 'salary costs are lower than the rest of the UK and are 30% lower than other European locations such as London, Paris and Dublin."
NI is in a vicious circle of low pay and poor quality jobs, fed by low skills. Clearly this model is not working for either the society or the economy. Austerity has been forced upon us for a decade. It has failed even by the narrow and selfish objectives set by its backers.
Over recent weeks and in divergent forums, the unions and trades councils across NI have met, discussed and agreed that a unified campaign involving all of this movement's resources is necessary to push our agenda of decent work rewarded by proper wages.
The secretariat has held regular meetings with the leadership of the affiliates to ensure that there was complete "buy-in" of the campaign, which has met with the absolute approval and backing of the NIC and EC. The secretariat has utilised the skills of NERI to add heft to the campaign materials, and is engaging in meetings with affiliate local executives and regional committees, collecting both worker testimonials and prospective lobbyists. A key aim is to re-build the capacity of our movement.
The next stage will be a formal launch of the campaign document, and its accompanying bespoke website, followed by a comprehensive series of meetings with elected politicians and stakeholders across society, talking to those who are not our traditional allies, because we need to influence all we can. And when workers and their unions are up for it and crucially where workers can win, industrial action.
The campaign is focused on three key areas:
- Low pay and the decent work agenda.
We are challenging the fact that NI doesn't have an adequate industrial strategy that is fit for purpose. 1 in 3 workers in NI work in insecure employment.
- Investing in public services.
The block grant has effectively decreased by 10.2% in real monetary terms since 2010. This has meant our public servants have had to more with less, and all of our citizens have suffered the shrinkage in services.
- The 1% public sector pay cap.
Public servants have seen their pay decline in real terms by up to 10% in the last 6/7 years with this artificial straight jacket which the Tory government has imposed. We believe the political winds are changing, that momentum and public opinion is behind us on this issue.
These three issues affect private sector and public sector worker in NI alike. They have the potential to bind our movement in NI closer together.
