British workers suffering worst wage squeeze for 200 years, London rally told

LONDON - Workers in Britain are suffering the worst pay squeeze for two centuries, the head of the Trades Union Congress told a major rally in London's Hyde Park on Saturday.

Tens of thousands of workers from across the country set off from the Embankment alongside the Thames across Trafalgar Square, to Piccadilly Circus, and then to Hyde Park in the "New Deal for Working People" rally.

The marchers came from a wide range of professions and jobs, including teachers, nurses, office workers, paramedics and ambulance drivers as well as civil servants and office cleaners.

At Hyde Park they were addressed by Frances O'Grady, general secretary of the TUC, who told them British workers are suffering the longest squeeze on real wages in modern history.

Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Britain's main opposition Labour Party, told the rally that his party would create a government ministry to guarantee worker's rights.

"This demonstration today is about workers rights, it is about collective endeavor, but above all, it's a declaration that we're around to campaign as long as it takes, to bring about that social justice and that decency in society," said Corbyn, who also criticized Theresa May's Conservative government over a lack of wage growth and cuts in spending on public services.

New research by the TUC said that 10 years on from the financial crisis real wages are still worth $33 a week less than in 2008, and wages are not forecast to return to their pre-crash level until 2025.

O'Grady told the rally: "UK workers are suffering the worst pay squeeze for two centuries. It's taking wages longer to recover from this crash than from the Great Depression and World War II.

"This means families are struggling to get by. Millions of kids are growing up in poverty despite having parents in work.

"That's why tens of thousands are marching today for a new deal for working people. We need great jobs in every region and nation of the UK, and higher wages for all workers, not just the bosses."

A TUC spokesperson added: "Not since the beginning of the 18th century, has it taken so long for real wages to recover from a slump."

The TUC estimates that as a result of pay not keeping pace with the cost of living, by 2025 the average worker will have lost out on around $25,000 in real earnings.

Xinhua - Reuters