Unite welcomes Budget promises on redundancy pay and unemployment

Unite assistant general secretary Tony Burke has welcomed a number of initiatives in this year's Budget, including the decision to increase statutory redundancy pay and initiatives to help the unemployed back into work.

In yesterday's Budget, chancellor Alistair Darling announced a £30 increase in statutory redundancy to £380 a week.

Burke said: "We welcome the increase in statutory redundancy pay but it was still not enough to provide the help that workers will need when facing job losses."

He also welcomed the announcement that all people aged 18-24 that have been out of work for 12 months will be guaranteed a job, work placement or work-related skills training for at least six months.

However, Burke added: "We would have liked to see more help for companies to take on apprentices in industries such as printing to help us when we eventually come out of recession.

"The key now is to get credit going again to help companies and to avoid lay-offs, job losses and the breaking-up of skilled workforces."

Elsewhere, Unite joint general secretary, Derek Simpson praised the chancellor for positioning Labour as "the party for jobs and social justice".

"Borrowing to shorten the recession is the right action to protect our economy and our members' jobs," he said.


Also see:
Budget 2009 - Live text