ALMOST 375,000 key workers in the region are paid less than £10 an hour, according to new TUC analysis published today.

Trade unionists around the country are marking May Day – also known as International Workers’ Day – with an online #ThankAWorker action, expressing gratitude to key workers during the coronavirus lockdown.

But the TUC believes that, as well as thanking key workers, ministers must do more to improve their pay and conditions.

In Yorkshire and Humber 45 per cent of key workers – a total of 372,782 people – are being paid less than £10 an hour. This is the second highest percentage in the country, with only the North East higher, at 47 per cent.

The TUC analysis reveals that nationally nearly four in ten key workers – an estimated 3.7 million people – are paid less than £10 an hour, compared to three in ten non-key workers.

Women are much more likely than men to be key workers and, when they are, are much more likely to be on low pay. Of an estimated 9.8 million key workers, nearly two-thirds are women and 2.5 million women key workers earn less than £10 an hour.

In social care, seven in ten workers earn less than £10 an hour. Many key workers are also trapped in insecure work, without guaranteed hours and often missing out on basic rights like sick pay.

A porter at one of the district’s hospitals told the T&A that low wages, coupled with a low sick pay were of particular concern.

“It makes it very difficult to save a deposit for a house, and obviously there is the worry about paying bills should I be off sick for any length of time.”

In recognition of the contribution of key workers during this period, the TUC is calling on government to: increase the minimum wage to £10 an hour for everyone now; deliver fair pay rises for key workers and rewards for workers across the economy that restore what they’ve lost through ten years of cuts and slow growth; ban zero-hours contracts and stamp out false self-employment; increase sick pay to the real living wage and make sure everyone can get it from day one; and bring outsourced workers like cleaners in the NHS back into the public sector on public sector terms and conditions.

TUC Regional Secretary Bill Adams said: “Everyone who’s kept Britain going through this pandemic deserves a pay rise.

“Frontline workers are putting their own health on the line to look after the rest of us. They’re caring for the sick and vulnerable, getting us to work, keeping our shelves stocked and our vital services running.

“Now it’s time for ministers to give key workers a proper thank you. And that means getting money into their pockets now.

“The government must give all key workers the pay, conditions and respect they deserve. That’s how to really thank the people who got us through this crisis.”