'The World Needs a Pay Rise': 45 Percent of Families Can't Afford to Live

A new report released by ITUC has revealed that one in ten families have no money to spend and are falling well below the poverty line. They do not have enough money to spend on basic needs such as housing, food and electricity.

Sharan Burrow, General Secretary, ITUC said 45 percent of working families can't participate in the economy — nearly half the population in nine of the world's largest economies have no money to spend. 

"GDP has trebled over three decades but corporate greed has captured the wealth of workers' contribution through a model of global trade that relies on low wages, insecure and unsafe work. This is destroying the lives of working families and ironically undermining global corporations themselves as they face shrinking markets," said Sharan Burrow.

The latest poll by the ITUC covers nine countries with 55 percent global GDP and 45 percent of the world's population, the ITUC believes that this just demonstrates the failure of governments to control corporate greed and corruption.

Countries that the report looks at are Argentina and South Korea. Sixty-three percent of families in Argentina for instance, said they did not have enough money for basic needs. 14 percent of them said that once they had covered the bare necessities they had nothing left.

For South Korea, one in five said they did not have enough money to cover housing, food and electricity.

"The world needs a pay rise. Well set minimum wages that ensure living wages raise the income of workers at the bottom. Investment in infrastructure to create quality jobs, boost aggregate demand and reduce inequality will help kick start the global economy. Governments should implement and enforce the rule of law, so companies pay tax and pay wages on which people can live. And if governments prioritize the dignity of the social protection floor for their people — the basic income and the public services that ensure sustainable and peaceful communities — the endless race to the bottom would stop and we could rebuild economic justice," Sharan Burrow told Sputnik.

However, governments have been lax when it comes to corporations, working in their interests and not supporting the everyday family.

"Corporate capture where governments act in the interests of big business instead of working families has undermined confidence and trust in governments.

"Austerity policies, pursued in a misguided hope that they will grow economies have done nothing but stripped away workers' rights and eroded wages, working conditions and social security in too many countries. In its wake, inequality has — within and between nations — grown to record levels," Sharan Burrow told Sputnik.

The ITCU believe that reason for this is the increase in corporate greed boils down to the simple fact that companies must start recognizing the power they have for good and bad.

"Multinationals must be held to account for fundamental rights and safety at work across borders. Governments, the ILO and international organizations can make a difference. The debate at the ILO conference this week over global supply chains will be a major test of commitment to the rule of law in the global economy. 

"The OECD is now developing a standard on due diligence. If that is successfully negotiated, we'll be calling an all governments to mandate it, so people can prosecute companies where they're failing in that regard," Sharan said.

"Workers and their unions are one of the fundamental checks and balances to the power of big business, but for this to happen, workers' rights to form and join trade unions and collectively bargain should be upheld in law and practice."