Financial crisis means Kirklees workers are £41 a week worse off than in 2008

Workers in Kirklees have suffered a huge blow to the value of their wages since the recession struck, says a report.

Figures from the TUC show that employees in the district are £41.19 a week worse off in real terms now than they where before the financial crisis hit in 2008.

The average hourly rate across the district in 2007 – at 2012 prices – stood at £11.36. It now stands at £10.33, a fall of £1.03p or 9.1%.

The TUC said that equated to a cut of £41.19 for the average 40-hour week.

Neil Foster, policy and campaigns officer for the TUC in Yorkshire, said; “£41 might not sound a lot to ministers in Government, but to many people across the Kirklees area it will be the difference between making it through the month or not.”

Workers in neighbouring Calderdale have seen their hourly pay rate of £11.98 decline to £11.66 – down by 32p or 3%. That is a drop of £12.89 over the average 40-hour week.

The Yorkshire figure has fallen from £11.16 to £10.31 – a reduction of 85p or 7.6% – bringing the weekly wage down by £34.

The research, carried out as part of the TUC’s Britain Needs a Pay Rise campaign, said families across the region were feeling the pinch as wages failed to keep pace with rising prices.

Male workers in Yorkshire have seen their hourly real pay rates drop by 8.5% which works out at £42.74 less in their weekly pay packets in 2012 compared to 2007.

Meanwhile Yorkshire’s female employees saw their wages decline by 3.8% in real terms – a loss of £14.51 for an average full-time worker on a 40-hour week.

Mr Foster said: “Working people across Yorkshire are being made to pay a high price for the mistakes and greed of bankers that caused the financial crash.

“A cruel combination of wage squeezes and poorer jobs replacing decent employment has lead to a destructive spiral of decline through self-defeating austerity measures.

“It’s little wonder that economic recovery has been so long in coming when working people have considerably less to spend on our high streets.”

Mr Foster said: “We need practical policies such as a living wage to help the poorest workers alongside an economic strategy that will deliver decent jobs with fairer pay.”