LONDON (The Guardian) - The governor of the Bank of England has come under fire from unions and earned a rebuke from 10 Downing Street for suggesting workers should not ask for big pay rises to help control inflation.
Andrew Bailey said he wanted to see “quite clear restraint” in the annual wage-bargaining process between staff and their employers to help prevent an upward spiral taking hold.
However, his comments drew a furious response from union leaders, as households face the worst hit to their living standards in three decades as soaring energy prices cause inflation to outstrip wage growth.
Sharon Graham, the general secretary of Unite, said workers did not cause Britain’s cost of living crisis and should not be asked to pay for it. “Why is it that every time there is a crisis, rich men ask ordinary people to pay for it?” she said.
“Enough is enough, we will be demanding that employers who can pay, do pay. Let’s be clear, pay restraint is nothing more than a call for a national pay cut.”
Bailey was paid £575,538, including pension, in his first year as the Bank’s governor from March 2020, more than 18 times the UK average for a full-time employee.
In a sign of a rift between the government and the Bank, the prime minister’s official spokesperson said pay restraint was not something he was calling for.