Cost of living crisis raises fears of a new era of industrial strife

Some believe high pay deals will set off a wage-price spiral. But do the UK's de-unionised workers have the power to demand them?

Jack Saunders might possess a PhD and have lectured undergraduates for 10 years, most recently at University College London, yet in all that time job security and an above-inflation pay rise have eluded him.

I have been on a fixed-term contract since I started in 2011," he said. And there hasn't been a pay award above inflation since Gordon Brown was prime minister. It means you are always searching the job market and each job is a stopgap."