Unions demand a 4-day week for all

BRITISH workers should only have to work four days a week – and should be paid higher salaries, the TUC will argue today.

Frances O’Grady, the TUC general secretary, will say that by the end of the century it should be the norm to work one day a week less. And despite doing less work, people should be paid more.

Miss O’Grady will unveil the TUC’s latest ambition at the start of its 150th conference in Manchester, and will take aim at the bosses of tech firms such as Amazon for not spreading their wealth fairly.

She will say: ‘ In the 19th century, unions campaigned for an eight-hour day. In the 20th century, we won the right to a two- day weekend and paid holidays.

‘So, for the 21st century, let’s lift our ambition again. I believe that in this century we can win a four- day working week, with decent pay for everyone.’

In a passage critical of online giants, she will say: ‘Jeff Bezos owns Amazon – now a trillion dollar company. He’s racking up the billions while his workers are collapsing on the job exhausted.

‘We need strong unions with the right to go into every workplace – starting with Amazon’s warehouses here in the UK.’

In a report published today on the future of work, the TUC claimed that 1.4million people work seven days a week, and almost half- a- million work more than 60 hours. Full-time workers in the UK work longer than almost any other country in Europe at 42 hours.