Budget: Cost of Living Crisis “Has Just Become Much Worse For Workers” Says Unite
Unite has said that the cost of living crisis for workers “has just got much worse” in light of the Chief Minister’s 2022 budget speech.
The union says that, in a budget that promised few or any give-aways it has “proven to be a budget of take-aways from workers” in the midst of a mounting cost of living crisis. Whilst the union says that there are “headline positives” such as the public acquisition of AquaGib, the purchase of St Bernard’s Hospital and inflationary increases in the minimum wage, old age pension and disability benefit, the underlying measures “will hit working people and their families.”
Unite Gibraltar stated: “This was never going to be an easy budget; however the Chief Minister’s budget delivery was punctuated with positive economic indicators pointing to a strong economic recovery and an eventual return to surplus. These are the points that Unite have repeatedly made in terms of a long-term economic plan. However we have witnessed a budget that heaps the majority of the burden to repair the public finances on working people.
“The last cost of living increase announced was during the pre-Covid 2019 budget. Aside from a commitment to address any parity issues with UK public sector workers, who themselves have experienced over a decade of wage austerity, there is no cost of living rise within the 2022 budget. The cost of living increase not only drives salary increases in the public sector, it also acts as a benchmark measure for private sector pay rises. Instead we have seen an effective and further real terms pay cut when taking account of inflation, coupled with further increases in the cost of utilities.
“The Chief Minister confirmed that the Gross Trading Profits of Companies grew by 10.5% over the year, with real average annual earning falling by 4.6%, indicators that would point to inflation being driven upwards by company profits, not workers’ wages. In addition to increasing the cost of utilities and applying wage restraint by announcing no cost of living increase there is also the announcement of increased personal tax for two years, an effective triple whammy for workers.
“Whilst workers face increased personal tax, against a drop in real average earnings, employers enjoying a double digit percentage increase in profits are presented with a £25 per week Covid Recovery Charge. This is a payment that is applied equally regardless of the size of employer and regardless of whether profits are thousands or hundreds of thousands. The additional tax paid by workers in both the public and private sectors via the increase in personal tax will dwarf the £25 per week Covid Recovery Charge paid by employers.
“Unite actively supported measures through Covid that both protected workers and businesses to ensure that there was an economy to rebuild post-Covid, but this budget appears to be asking workers to dig deep and for employers that record profits in the hundreds of thousand or greater to pay an additional £1,300 a year as a Covid Recovery Charge. Workers kept Gibraltar going during Covid and now they are being asked to pay for the crisis. Unite submitted a public sector pay claim which Government have not responded to, the outcomes of this budget and the impacts on working people will be discussed and debated with our shop stewards and workplace representatives to consider the collective union response to this escalating cost of living crisis”.
