1 in 5 Yorkshire workers has wages cut in recession

Jun 2 2009 By Henryk Zientek

ONE in five workers in Yorkshire has had a pay cut since the start of the recession, a survey has revealed.

Many of those work for Huddersfield firms, in a bid to protect jobs.

Almost a third have had a reduction in hours while 24% have lost benefits, according to the poll of more than 1,600 workers by the Keep Britain Working campaign.

Over the last nine months, 27% of UK workers have had their pay cut, 24% have had their hours reduced and 24% have lost benefits, according to the survey.

While 37% of UK workers have experienced just one of these changes, 12% have experienced two of them and 5% have experienced all three.

The figures follow a move by workers at car manufacturer Honda to accept pay cuts of 3% in a bid to avoid redundancies.

Steven Leigh, policy adviser for the Lockwood-based Mid Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, said several local firms has reported taking similar measures to protect jobs.

"Workforces have gone to management and said that instead of making redundancies, they are prepared to work short-time to weather the recession together.

"That is fabulous news for the employers concerned because they are not losing skilled workers or having the make difficult decisions about who to lose."