From tomorrow, the main rate of national insurance will reduce by two percentage points to 10%, as set out by the Chancellor in November’s Autumn Statement. Research by the Labour Party shows that many families have been drawn into higher tax bands, with income tax and national insurance thresholds being frozen since 2021; so for every extra £10 people are paying in tax they are only getting £2 back.
Paddy Lillis – Usdaw General Secretary says: “Tomorrow’s National Insurance change is yet another Tory tax con that goes nowhere near compensating workers for over two years of a cost of living crisis, with inflation running in double figures during most of that time and still being double the target rate. Therefore, wages have been significantly devalued, while workers are paying much more in purchase taxes on essential items like fuel, energy and everyday goods.
“The Government’s tax policy is long on spin and short on the help our members so desperately need. They claim to be tax cutters, but the tax burden is now at its highest since the sixties, while public services are falling apart because of lack of investment. Despite increases on minimum wage rates and in-work social security low-paid workers are still struggling to heat their houses and feed their families. It is clear that we need a minimum wage system that takes account of the cost of living.
“The Government continues to fail to tackle the insecure employment; something that undermines incomes and leaves too many workers vulnerable to sudden and severe losses of income. That is why we need a new deal for workers which only Labour is committed to delivering. The Government is not on the side of working people. We need a general election now and a change of government, because only Labour will deliver the change the country needs.”
Labour in government will deliver a new deal for workers that includes:
- Making work pay with a genuine living wage that people can actually live on.
- Banning zero-hours contracts.
- Ending fire and rehire.
- Giving workers basic rights from day one.
- Going further and faster in closing the gender pay gap.
- Making work more family friendly.
- Tackling sexual harassment.
- Ensuring that unions can stand up for their members.
- Boosting collective bargaining, to improve workers’ pay, terms and conditions.
Notes for editors:
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is one of the fastest growing unions in the TUC and the UK's fifth biggest trade union with around 360,000 members. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemical industry and other trades
www.usdaw.org.uk
For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter
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