Agree. Pay has not risen with the inflation rate in many years. There is no reason that one should continue working the same amount of time and get effectively paid less while companies and corporation are raking in MASSIVE profits (made by the way by rising prices for their products that workers are expected to buy from their wages).
With what? I’m expendable. I can easily be replaced by someone else. I’m a zero hour worker who relies on the fucking Universal Credit system and just seen my account go from havingg cash in it, to realising that virtually all of it is gone on Monday because of bills and rent and food. I have nothing to use to demand a higher wage as I can be replaced easily. Most people can easily be replaced. Unless you’re a specalist, you’re not gonna to get a raise.
​
Worse, the only raise I would have gotten due to NMW going up, is eliminated because of National Insurance going up thus i don’t really get a raise. I really was looking forward to earning £9.50 an hour without NI eating it up.
Higher wages, lower taxes, getting a 5% payraise with having to pay less taxes on it will be a massive boon
​
Notice, you should try to get higher than 5% payraise.
To the vast majority of workforce in the UK the idea of putting their wage on a table of discussion is a fantasy…
Someone in retail, a call centre, any entry level office job etc would be literally laughed out of the office in most companies if they knocked on a higher-ups door and even hinted at this. Like what’s a just eat courier going to take away from this?
Literally advice that maybe someone in a highly specialised STEM field can attempt. And even then thats a maybe.
> Instead, they argue, we’re on the verge of a ‘wage-price spiral’ in which workers demand higher wages to compensate for rising inflation, which in turn drives up inflation.
Yes, and that’s a significant worry. Inflation isn’t fun, as anyone who was around in the 70s-90s may remember.
> pleading with British workers not to demand wage increases.
Not what he said, but poor journalists never let accuracy get in the way of a rant.
> it was also economically nonsensical, as everyone from the head of the free market IFS to trade unionists were keen to point out.
The author didn’t bother with any useful details like sources or actual quotes, but I can’t find any record of Paul Johnson saying it was economically nonsensical – just that it was “a very tough message to swallow”. And trade unionists are not economists, in general, so I’d be fairly careful about taking their word over an actual subject matter expert.
Is this a bad moment to point out that the author of this piece is a die-hard Brexiter? Maybe that explains why she’s so opposed to listening to experts.
> Bailey is not the only one making the case for the ‘wage-price spiral’ argument.
It’s not just a theoretical economic argument, we’ve had this in the UK in living memory. In the late 1970s and early 1980s this made an existing problem worse. That’s what Bailey was worried about and what he was talking about us avoiding.
> When policymakers argue that workers are the ones driving inflation
They’re not, they’re pointing out that is *one factor* in it.
> Working people are being squeezed between stagnant wages and rising prices.
Yes, this is the problem. It sucks. There are limited ways to improve it, and plenty of ways to make it worse. High wage increases are great, but if they cause a repeat of the 1970s spiral, then not so much.
> Instead of forcing working people to pay for the pandemic, just as they were forced to pay for the recklessness of the finance sector after the crisis of 2008, those with the greatest means should pick up the tab.
A wealth tax is a great idea. But at the very best that’s not an option until 2024, because obviously the Tories will never entertain the idea. Even then, it’ll take time. Maybe 2026 is the earliest we could plausibly see revenue from it. In the meantime, the target has to be to get inflation under control, because the longer it’s up in the clouds the worse the situation gets.
> The last time the wage-price spiral argument was being pushed in the way it is today was in the 1970s.
Yes, probably because that’s the last time it happened.
26% of workers are covered by union recognition agreements in the UK, vast majority in the public sector.
What you need to do is organise with your coworkers and then demand payrises with the power you amass.
Stop thinking in individual terms, that’s how the bosses win. Start organising today. Plenty unions out there who’ll give you training.
Try the IWW, UVW or IWGB if you wanna do it right.
My employer is usually fairly decent but even they have said very bluntly if you want more money then find a job elsewhere. They won’t ever match inflation. (but new joiners are negotiating higher salaries)
Loyalty means nothing to businesses these days. Even in a skilled role with a good employer they see everyone as a replaceable resource.
Ask for better but also vote with your feet.
Watch the majority here be so gaslighted they think it’s pointless even asking.
I’ve seen so much Stockholm syndrome in the workplace it’s unreal. Don’t get a raise? Quit! Underpaid and undervalued?, quit! Hate waking up in the morning? QUIT!
But most people won’t because the bootlicking mentality has somehow brainwashed them and while the majority allow themselves to be taken advantage of and refuse to stand up for themselves the merry go round continues…
Not going to happen, this article is relying on the fact that all businesses are reasonable and trustworthy.
The current business I work at this is the situation:
1. All wages are kept seriously top secret, just talking about your hourly rate or salary is a taboo subject. Due to this vicious rumours get spread around about unstable pay grades e.g. pick packers paid more than qualified IT staff due to the availability of overtime.
2. A weird mist of ignorance is perpetuated when you ask for pay rises or advancement even an official complaint won’t get you far.
3. In order for said company to save money they’ll make positions available on job sites since that is the law but will not disclose a pay grade specifically so there will be few applicants due to this and internal employees who do apply to it can be kept on the same pay grade despite taking a more senior role.
Fact of the matter is, if you want more pay, it’s best to look for another job, it’s shorter, easier and carries less risk to yourself.
Yeah, cos it’s so easy to just sit down with your boss and demand more money. There’s no risk attached to that at all and they’ll definitely say yes.
I disagree with state coercion and state intervenrion, most people can make money in software development It’s not difficult to code I have done it It requires of studying that’s what I did.
11 comments
Agree. Pay has not risen with the inflation rate in many years. There is no reason that one should continue working the same amount of time and get effectively paid less while companies and corporation are raking in MASSIVE profits (made by the way by rising prices for their products that workers are expected to buy from their wages).
With what? I’m expendable. I can easily be replaced by someone else. I’m a zero hour worker who relies on the fucking Universal Credit system and just seen my account go from havingg cash in it, to realising that virtually all of it is gone on Monday because of bills and rent and food. I have nothing to use to demand a higher wage as I can be replaced easily. Most people can easily be replaced. Unless you’re a specalist, you’re not gonna to get a raise.
​
Worse, the only raise I would have gotten due to NMW going up, is eliminated because of National Insurance going up thus i don’t really get a raise. I really was looking forward to earning £9.50 an hour without NI eating it up.
Higher wages, lower taxes, getting a 5% payraise with having to pay less taxes on it will be a massive boon
​
Notice, you should try to get higher than 5% payraise.
To the vast majority of workforce in the UK the idea of putting their wage on a table of discussion is a fantasy…
Someone in retail, a call centre, any entry level office job etc would be literally laughed out of the office in most companies if they knocked on a higher-ups door and even hinted at this. Like what’s a just eat courier going to take away from this?
Literally advice that maybe someone in a highly specialised STEM field can attempt. And even then thats a maybe.
> Instead, they argue, we’re on the verge of a ‘wage-price spiral’ in which workers demand higher wages to compensate for rising inflation, which in turn drives up inflation.
Yes, and that’s a significant worry. Inflation isn’t fun, as anyone who was around in the 70s-90s may remember.
> pleading with British workers not to demand wage increases.
Not what he said, but poor journalists never let accuracy get in the way of a rant.
> it was also economically nonsensical, as everyone from the head of the free market IFS to trade unionists were keen to point out.
The author didn’t bother with any useful details like sources or actual quotes, but I can’t find any record of Paul Johnson saying it was economically nonsensical – just that it was “a very tough message to swallow”. And trade unionists are not economists, in general, so I’d be fairly careful about taking their word over an actual subject matter expert.
Is this a bad moment to point out that the author of this piece is a die-hard Brexiter? Maybe that explains why she’s so opposed to listening to experts.
> Bailey is not the only one making the case for the ‘wage-price spiral’ argument.
It’s not just a theoretical economic argument, we’ve had this in the UK in living memory. In the late 1970s and early 1980s this made an existing problem worse. That’s what Bailey was worried about and what he was talking about us avoiding.
> When policymakers argue that workers are the ones driving inflation
They’re not, they’re pointing out that is *one factor* in it.
> Working people are being squeezed between stagnant wages and rising prices.
Yes, this is the problem. It sucks. There are limited ways to improve it, and plenty of ways to make it worse. High wage increases are great, but if they cause a repeat of the 1970s spiral, then not so much.
> Instead of forcing working people to pay for the pandemic, just as they were forced to pay for the recklessness of the finance sector after the crisis of 2008, those with the greatest means should pick up the tab.
A wealth tax is a great idea. But at the very best that’s not an option until 2024, because obviously the Tories will never entertain the idea. Even then, it’ll take time. Maybe 2026 is the earliest we could plausibly see revenue from it. In the meantime, the target has to be to get inflation under control, because the longer it’s up in the clouds the worse the situation gets.
> The last time the wage-price spiral argument was being pushed in the way it is today was in the 1970s.
Yes, probably because that’s the last time it happened.
26% of workers are covered by union recognition agreements in the UK, vast majority in the public sector.
What you need to do is organise with your coworkers and then demand payrises with the power you amass.
Stop thinking in individual terms, that’s how the bosses win. Start organising today. Plenty unions out there who’ll give you training.
Try the IWW, UVW or IWGB if you wanna do it right.
My employer is usually fairly decent but even they have said very bluntly if you want more money then find a job elsewhere. They won’t ever match inflation. (but new joiners are negotiating higher salaries)
Loyalty means nothing to businesses these days. Even in a skilled role with a good employer they see everyone as a replaceable resource.
Ask for better but also vote with your feet.
Watch the majority here be so gaslighted they think it’s pointless even asking.
I’ve seen so much Stockholm syndrome in the workplace it’s unreal. Don’t get a raise? Quit! Underpaid and undervalued?, quit! Hate waking up in the morning? QUIT!
But most people won’t because the bootlicking mentality has somehow brainwashed them and while the majority allow themselves to be taken advantage of and refuse to stand up for themselves the merry go round continues…
Not going to happen, this article is relying on the fact that all businesses are reasonable and trustworthy.
The current business I work at this is the situation:
1. All wages are kept seriously top secret, just talking about your hourly rate or salary is a taboo subject. Due to this vicious rumours get spread around about unstable pay grades e.g. pick packers paid more than qualified IT staff due to the availability of overtime.
2. A weird mist of ignorance is perpetuated when you ask for pay rises or advancement even an official complaint won’t get you far.
3. In order for said company to save money they’ll make positions available on job sites since that is the law but will not disclose a pay grade specifically so there will be few applicants due to this and internal employees who do apply to it can be kept on the same pay grade despite taking a more senior role.
Fact of the matter is, if you want more pay, it’s best to look for another job, it’s shorter, easier and carries less risk to yourself.
Yeah, cos it’s so easy to just sit down with your boss and demand more money. There’s no risk attached to that at all and they’ll definitely say yes.
I disagree with state coercion and state intervenrion, most people can make money in software development It’s not difficult to code I have done it It requires of studying that’s what I did.