TUC: Extending the job retention scheme until Spring is a positive step, but there are still “gaps” in government support package  

Commentating on today’s (Thursday) announcement by the Chancellor on the furlough scheme, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:

“Agreeing to extend the job retention scheme at 80% until the spring, as unions have called for, is a positive step.

“But there are still gaps in the government’s support package.

“It’s not right to ask millions of low-paid workers on furlough to survive on less than the minimum wage. The Chancellor must fix the scheme so their pay is topped up to 100%.

“And he must offer to help to those self-employed workers who are falling between the cracks.

“We also need an urgent boost to both sick pay and universal credit. No-one should be plunged into financial hardship if they have to self-isolate or if they lose their job.”

Analysis published by the ONS this week revealed that two million low-paid workers were furloughed on less than the minimum wage.