The Trade Unions Congress (TUC) is calling for better pay and conditions for key workers after it revealed 500,000 across the South East are paid less than £10 an hour.

And it wants the minimum wage to increase for all workers.

Publishing analysis to coincide with International Workers' Day, it says almost four in 10 across the region receive such payments.

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

Its findings reveal an estimated 3.7million key workers nationwide get less than £10 an hour - in comparison just three in 10 non-key workers receive such payments.

The TUC adds 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 10 workers earn less than £10 an hour.

The trade unions federation also says "many key workers are also trapped in insecure work, without guaranteed hours and often missing out on basic rights like sick pay".

Now the TUC is calling on government to increase the minimum wage to £10 an hour for everyone. It also wants 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".

It is also renewing calls to ban zero-hours contracts and stamp out "false self-employment", as well as increasing sick pay to the real living wage.

TUC regional secretary Sam Gurney 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.”

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