General Secretary of the TUC Frances O’Grady will this weekend tell a Cornish rally the ‘ongoing low pay crisis and public sector pay cap are affecting thousands of working people and public sector workers in Cornwall’.

The leader of the Trades Union Congress is to address a public rally organised by Cornwall Trades Council and TUC South West.

The rally will take place in Lemon Quay, Truro at 12.30pm, on Saturday (October 21) with hundreds of people expected to hear her speak.

Organisers say working people from various sectors and industries around Cornwall will describe struggling against the sharp rise in living costs against a backdrop of low wages and low increases to their pay since 2008. 

TUC South West says its recent analysis has found people in Cornwall earn on average £1,117 less each year in real terms than in 2008.

Figures from the Office of National Statistics show workers in Cornwall earn an average of £344.50 each week, almost £60 per week less than the average working person in the South West, and nearly £100 below the national average.

Nigel Costley, Regional Secretary, TUC South West said: ‘For too long, Cornwall has been ignored by central Government and it shows in the pay packets of all workers, whether in the public or private sector.

‘Casual, seasonal work, zero-hour contracts and temporary agency work has become the norm in Cornwall. This is not sustainable for Cornwall, nor is it fair.

‘This rally is a big shout to the Government that Cornwall should not be forgotten again.

‘As Brexit looms, places like Cornwall that have relied on EU funding still don’t know what the plan is when this money runs out.’

 The TUC is calling for:

? An end to the 1% pay cap for all public workers

? Support for the Real Living Wage of £8.45 per hour

? A properly enforced minimum wage

? Increase to the minimum wage for young workers (aged under 25) doing the same job in line with the National Living Wage

? A ban on zero hours contracts

? Union agreements to secure better pay