PUBLIC-SECTOR workers face another year of “wages gloom” unless Tory ministers act swiftly, the TUC warns as official figures show inflation is far outstripping pay growth.

The union body said that its analysis of Office for National Statistics data shows public-sector real-terms pay fell by 2.3 per cent in November — the equivalent of £60 a month.

However, this squeeze on wage packets is set to worsen with inflation forecast to hit 6 per cent by spring, the TUC stressed.

Another year of falling real wages would be a “hammer blow to morale” for essential workers after a “lost decade for pay” due to austerity, it said.

A separate TUC analysis has revealed that many key workers are, after adjustments for inflation, still earning thousands of pounds a year less than in 2010 when the Tories came to power.

Nurses’ real wages are down more than £2,700 per annum, the union body highlighted, while local government care workers are missing out on more than £1,600 a year. 

It has urged ministers to ensure all public-sector workers get a decent pay rise in 2022 via pay review bodies or the return of collective sectoral bargaining.

The minimum wage should be raised to at least £10 an hour and all outsourced workers should receive at least the real living wage or get pay parity with directly employed staff, it added.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “The government must stop burying its head and get pay rising across the economy.

“Ministers cannot abandon families during this cost-of-living crisis.

“We need a proper plan to tackle staff shortages across the public sector.

“Failure to act will be a hammer blow to morale at a time when many key workers feel exhausted and burnout.”

Unison general secretary Christina McAnea said: “Health, council, care, school and police staff have been at the heart of the pandemic.

“Those same essential workers are being hit hard as living costs soar.

“Front-line services, already struggling with a crushing number of vacancies, are losing employees at alarming rates.

“Unless ministers ensure pay is high enough to halt the exodus, the public will lose much-needed services.”

In a separate study, money-saving website Savoo found that British workers would be £25,397 better off each year if salaries had increased in line with inflation over recent decades.

Its analysis was based on comparing disposable income with the cost-of-living and inflation rates since 1987. 

For more information on the Savoo research visit https://www.savoo.co.uk/resources/disposable-income-analysis