Households facing “unsurmountable financial pressure”, Unite warns

54% of people have said that they cannot pay or will have difficulty paying their household bills this year in new research published by Unite.

The Survation poll for the trade union, published this morning, revealed that a third of households have already gone into debt or increased levels of debt amid the rapidly rising cost of living and ahead of the biggest interest rate hike in decades, expected to be confirmed by the Bank of England this afternoon.

“Unite’s research shows that many workers face unsurmountable financial pressure. An interest rate hike will shackle those workers with more debt while corporate profiteering runs rampant,” Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said.

“It is corporate greed which is driving inflation and supercharging the cost of living crisis, not workers’ wages. The political conspiracy of silence as they line workers and communities up for austerity 2.0 must not go unchallenged.

“In 2022, an epidemic of profiteering is – quite literally – stealing the food from our tables. It remains remarkable that, in the teeth of all the evidence, the Bank of England is refusing to acknowledge that profits have to be tackled to address inflation.”

27% of respondents told Survation that they have already gone into debt or increased the levels of their debt to put food on the table. The research also revealed that 14% of adults are facing food poverty – an increase from 8% in 2020. According to the poll, 70% of people have experienced a real-terms pay cut.

Staff at Stagecoach in Hull are expected to stage a rally today. Unite activists will raise a banner reading: “Cost of Greed.” Stagecoach recorded profits of £72m last year while its owner Deutsche Bank recorded £3bn. The company’s workers are on strike in protest at a below-inflation pay offer.

The Bank of England is expected to announce its eighth interest rate hike in a row, driving up borrowing costs as the country risks falling into recession. The Bank is expected to raise its key rate by three-quarters of a percent, taking the rate from 2.25% to 3%, the highest since autumn 2008.

A 75 basis-point rise would be the biggest rate hike since 1989 – excluding Black Wednesday, when rates were briefly hiked skyward from 10% to 12%.

Trade unionists gathered in Westminster on Wednesday for the Demand Better rally. The TUC’s Frances O’Grady was joined by the RMT’s Mick Lynch, NASUWT’s Patrick Roach, UCU’s Jo Grady and others, calling on ministers to: “Invest in kids’ education, pay teachers a fair wage, or shut up, ship out and call a general election.”