SHEFFIELD NEEDS A PAY RISE! Demo and Rally 17th December

 

March and Rally in Sheffield City Centre

Saturday 17th December 2016

Assemble 1pm Devonshire Green for speeches then

short march through city centre

to final rally on City Hall steps Barker Pool at approx. 2.15pmsheffield-needs-pay-rise

 

Speakers at the rally include:

Ian Hodson, National President, Bakers Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU)

Louise Haigh MP, Sheffield Heeley

Tony Kearns, Senior Deputy General Secretary CWU

Karen Reay, UNITE Regional Secretary

Joanne Thomas, USDAW Regional Secretary

Natalie Bennett, Green Party

Neil Derrick, GMB Regional Secretary

plus

Workers and Union Activists from ASOS, Sports Direct and other low paid workplaces

Sheffield Trade Union Council is holding a huge demonstration and rally in Sheffield City Centre this Saturday – the last Saturday before Christmas. Why? Because most of the shop workers desperately need a pay rise. Many of them will barely be able to afford Christmas this year. Martin Mayer Sheffield TUC Secretary said “Our new ‘Sheffield Needs a Pay Rise’ Campaign is holding this first city centre demonstration and rally in support of Sheffield’s low paid workers, with a focus on shop workers at Christmas. They need a rise NOW!”

 

FACTS:

  • Not a single city centre store pays its workers the Living Wage £8.25p per hour (set by Living Wage Foundation)

  • The Government’s so-called National Living Wage (£7.20p per hour) is the new Minimum Wage – but only to those over 25 years old.  Those aged 18 to 20 only get £5.55p per hour!

  • The TUC says all workers need a minimum of £10 per hour to survive

  • Bosses can afford it – they just don’t want to pay it!

  • Workers need a trade union. Sheffield TUC is here to help…

 

“Sheffield Needs a Pay Rise” Campaign is aimed at all workers, not just those on the minimum wage. Most workers have seen their pay packets fall in real terms since the Crash – and working families are worse off across the city. Sheffield TUC is supporting workers forming a trade union and taking action to fight for a pay rise” said Martin Mayer.

 

For many workers it’s not just low pay:

  • Zero hours contracts mean you never know how many hours work you’ll get a week

  • Bogus self-employment means you take on all the risks – and get no holiday pay or sick pay

  • Bullying bosses who make unreasonable demands – and threaten you with the sack if you don’t comply

 

Sheffield TUC says “All this can change if you join a trade union. When workers join together to make demands, anything is possible.”

“Strikes are a last resort, but if we have to strike to raise wages in Sheffield then that’s what we’ll do”

 

 Explaining the thinking behind the campaign, Martin Mayer said “Research by the Resolution Foundation this year discovered that Sheffield workers suffer lower pay rates than other city in Britain. We know this because more workers benefited from the Government’s so-called National Minimum Wage (£7.20p per hour) than elsewhere. But that’s only for 25-year olds and over. Many of the employers are household names so they could afford to pay but don’t. They could recognise trade unions, but don’t. It’s not just the workers who suffer. It’s their families and their communities who are worse off. It affects Sheffield’s economy if ordinary families can’t make ends meet. It’s time something was done about it. If we in the trade union movement don’t do this, then nobody will”.

 

The campaign aims to bring low paid workers into trade unions and campaign together to force wages up in the city. “Strikes are a last resort, but if we have to strike to raise wages in Sheffield then that’s what we’ll do” said Martin Mayer

 

 

“Sheffield Needs a Pay Rise” Campaign says

ALL workers should be on

a minimum of £10 per hour to survive

 

 

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