Tens of thousands of people are expected to leave for London due to the cost of living crisis

Tens of thousands are due to march in London on Saturday in protest of the government’s handling of the cost of living crisis.

Union leaders will join frontline workers and community organizations in calling for a “better deal” for those struggling to cope with rising inflation.

Organized by the Trades Union Congress (TUC), the march will begin at noon, with protesters marching from Portland Place to Parliament Square for a rally.

The TUC said there was “heartbreaking” evidence of the impact the crisis was having on families, with workers suffering the “longest and hardest” income pressures in modern history.

Frances O’Grady, her secretary general, said: “Prices are skyrocketing, but boardroom bonuses are back to bumper levels. Everyone who works for a living deserves to earn a living. decent living, but workers in the UK are under the longest and hardest pressure of their incomes in modern history.

“If we don’t get a pay rise across the economy, we will continue to move from crisis to crisis. This emergence of the cost of living has not come out of nowhere. It is the result of more than a decade of stagnant wages.” .

Workers have lost an average of nearly £ 20,000 in accumulated income since 2008 because wages have not kept pace with inflation, the TUC said, adding that it was the biggest loss of “real wages” since 1830s.

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O’Grady said it was “heartbreaking” to hear how workers were struggling, with no safety net to stand on and the pay cut showed few signs of slowing down.

He told PA Media that the Conservatives were now the “party of the pay cuts”, accusing the government of turning its back on those who made “extraordinary sacrifices” in continuing to work during the Covid crisis. .

Boris Johnson “cynically abandoned” his commitment to a high-wage economy, he said.

“He and other ministers are treating workers like Oliver Twist by telling them not to dare to demand a decent wage increase. The last thing we need right now is for wages to go down.

“We can’t be a country where nurses have to use food banks to get over themselves.”

O’Grady said he had heard a “heartbreaking” story of children saving part of the school lunch to take home for dinner.

PA Media contributed to this report

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