In the UK, Public Sector Workers Are Striking Against Austerity
British public sector workers are striking to demand wage increases that keep up with the cost of living. The Tories claim the government can’t afford it ― but they had no problem lavishing cash on big business, banks, and landlords during the pandemic.
Junior Doctors protest for higher pay outside Downing Street on July 25, 2022 in London, England. (Guy Smallman / Getty Images)
Wage growth in the UK over the past twelve years has been dismal. In the period after the financial crisis, the country experienced the longest period of wage stagnation since the Napoleonic Wars. Then the pandemic hit, and wages collapsed as unemployment spiked.
As the lockdowns ended, workers were told to expect a respite as the labor market tightened. With immigration having fallen and millions of people having left the labor force thanks to ill-health, the ratio of job seekers to vacancies improved significantly over the course of 2021.
Economists expected this imbalance between demand and supply to lead to a sharp increase in wages. Many started to panic that the so-called great resignation was going to force companies to start paying their workers a living wage. But then inflation began to rise much faster than wages, erasing any gains that had been made thanks to tighter labor market conditions.
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