Received from: GMB
Congress believes the planned abolition of RPI represents an attack on millions of workers and pensioners’ living standards and a permanent deepening of the cost- of-living crisis.
Congress notes that:
i. trade unions have always fought for an inflation measure that reflects working people’s cost of living as a foundation of collective bargaining
ii. the government plans to effectively abolish the RPI rate of inflation from 2030
iii. the Royal Statistical Society has said that alternative CPI/CPIH indices are ‘an unsatisfactory measure of inflation as it affects British households.’
iv. the government’s neglect of RPI since 2010 has raised the cost of borrowing, putting further strain on public services.
Congress condemns:
a. the withdrawal of the RPI link for public sector pay and pensions, which disproportionately lowered the incomes of women, ethnic minority, and disabled workers and pensioners.
b. the suspension of RPI’s routine methodological updates since 2010
c. the Treasury and the UK Statistics Authority’s refusal to hold a full consultation on scrapping RPI.
Congress calls upon the TUC to:
1. establish a priority campaign and working group that brings together interested affiliates and other appropriate organisations through to 2030
2. lobby Labour and the government to preserve an independent RPI, or otherwise create and agree with unions a new rate suitable for collective bargaining
3. create resources that affiliates can use to defend the link
4. hold a conference during the lifetime of the working group to discuss the campaign and the importance of RPI for pay and pensions.
GMB