Inflation at 10 year high

Inflation has risen again, hitting a 10 year high of 5.1% CPI (consumer prices index) and 7% RPI (retail prices index) in the 12 months to November 2021 according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). CPIH (consumer prices index including owner occupiers’ housing costs), rose by 4.6% in the same period, up from 3.8%.

Commenting on the rise, which takes inflation above average earnings, TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “We need an urgent plan from the government to get real wages rising. The chancellor must fully fund real pay rises for public sector workers. And the minimum wage should go up to £10 immediately.”

Sharon Graham, general secretary of the Unite general union, challenged the use of CPI rather than RPI by the ONS, saying “The RPI, which includes housing costs, is a far more accurate measure of the real cost of living than the CPI, which is always lower. Employers favour the CPI in cost calculations because it saves them money, but the truth is that this is a hidden tax on workers’ wages. Unite will always seek wage settlements that reflect the true cost of living because anything else is a wage cut”.

She added that, with the government determined to replace RPI with CPI, Unite is working to develop the Unite bargaining index, which will track real living costs and serve as the union's benchmark measure in all wage and pension negotiations.

https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/bulletins/consumerpriceinflation/november2021

https://www.tuc.org.uk/news/inflation-urgent-plan-needed-government-get-real-wages-rising

https://www.unitetheunion.org/news-events/news/2021/december/as-cpi-reaches-51-per-cent-unite-leader-says-wage-rises-must-at-least-match-rpi-inflation