MOSCOW, October 18 (RIA Novosti) - Thousands of Britons are to join later on Saturday pay rise protests, organized by the Britain's Trade Union Congress (TUC), following days of industrial action by public sector workers across the UK, Press TV reported.
"An economy that allows tax cuts for the rich while imposing a pay squeeze to the welfare system is no longer working for the many," Frances O'Grady, the TUC general secretary, was quoted by the news outlet as saying.
"After the longest and deepest pay squeeze in recorded history, it's time to end the lock-out that has kept the vast majority from sharing in the economic recovery," she added.
According to the report, the protesters, including students, housing campaigners and anti-nuclear activists will march from Thames Embankment to Hyde Park, with other protests in Belfast, Glasgow with a banner saying "Britain Needs a Pay Rise".
On Monday, the National Health Service workers went on a 4-hour strike over pay rise joined by workers from seven trade unions including the Unison and the British Association of Occupational Therapists.
The strikes picked momentum over the following days with workers from courts, museums, driving test centers, job centers and airports joined a 24-hour walkout on Wednesday, as reported by The Guardian.
According to the Public and Commercial Service Union (PCS) participating in the walkout, public sector workers will experience a 20 percent cut in their incomes by next year because of frozen wages and increased pension contributions since the coalition (Conservative and Liberal party) came into power in 2013.
"These figures prove what people in low-paid households already know, that the real cost of living is soaring while wages are being cut year after year," Mark Serwotka, the PCS general secretary was quoted as saying by the newspaper on Wednesday.
On the same day, the UK government issued a one percent pay rise, inciting Saturday's protests as workers remain discontent.
