by René Lavanchy
UNIONS are bracing themselves for swingeing job cuts across all sectors as a recession takes hold of Britain.
The British Chambers of Commerce indicated this week that they will confirm next month that unemployment will rise to two million by the end of the year, and the TUC has previously made the same prediction.
However, the TUC is hoping that Chancellor Alistair Darling’s announcement of a £500 billion rescue package for banks will encourage them to lend to businesses and stave off some job losses.
Adam Lent, the TUC’s head of economic and social affairs, told Tribune: “They are inevitable. These job losses are going to occur, but it’s not the result of a grand market rationalisation. This is the result of decisions taken by policy makers and City executives.”
He added that it was “absolutely crucial” for banks to resume lending: “The massive injection of liquidity today is the key lever. Whether it’s enough to get them lending again I don’t know.”
The GMB union called this week for more public investment. General secretary Paul Kenny said: “There is scarcely a day when GMB does not hear news of members losing their jobs. It is clear that we need a cut in interest rates – to at least slow down the recession.” He was responding to a BCC report this week saying that business sales and orders plunged in the third quarter of this year.
The union, which represents nearly 600,000 workers, has seen redundancies announced across manufacturing and retail this year, with Hotpoint, JJB Sports, Littlewoods and JCB all cutting jobs. This week, caravan manufacturer Cosalt also said it planned to shut its Hull factory with 280 redundancies.
A GMB spokesperson said other sectors would follow: “We see certainly the recession moving into restaurants, hotels and the leisure sector. We’re noticing cutbacks in overtime.”
“We are asking for a major public works programme. The Government have clearly demonstrated that where there’s a will there’s a way.
“Public sector wages have been unnecessarily held down, which is leading to a loss of purchasing power, which is slowing the economy down. We don’t accept that we should just grin and bear it.”
Unite meanwhile is campaigning to save jobs in the financial sector, where it represents some 180,000 staff. The union is particularly concerned that its members at HBOS could face compulsory redundancy after the bank was taken over by Lloyds TSB last month.
Mr Lent warned: “It’s pretty clear that unemployment is going to bleed into other areas. I think we can say the retail sector is going to be hit pretty hard, [with a] massive decline in consumer confidence. The inflationary pressures are making people warier of spending more money.”
