On February 24 1834 George Loveless and five fellow workers, his brother James, James Hammett, James Brine, Thomas Standfield and Thomas’s son John, were charged with having taken an illegal oath. 

But their real crime in the eyes of the Establishment was to have formed a trade union to protest about their meagre pay of six shillings a week — the equivalent in today’s money of 30 pence — and the third wage cut in as many years.

It is ironic that today we are celebrating the struggle of the Tolpuddle Martyrs when 180 years on in 2014 many in Britain are living in poverty with anti-trade union laws restricting an effective fightback for workers. 

The average worker is £1,600 a year worse off since austerity measures were imposed by this wretched, uncaring coalition government.

As with those farm labourers in 1834, workers should be entitled to a living wage as a basic human right. At a time when executive pay is soaring obscenely out of control, many families in Britain are struggling on zero-hours contracts and relying on foodbanks. 

Many of my members have told me their salary has been cut so much with pay freezes and increased costs of living along with paying more for their pension they too have visited foodbanks or have relied on relatives assisting them.

In the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 25.1 states: “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family, including food, clothing, housing, medical care, necessary social services and the right to security.”

There are many benefits to providing a living wage to all workers. 

The most fundamental reason to fight for a living wage is that it is the only way to ensure that all workers can enjoy the right to an adequate standard of living.

For the majority of people, the only way of sustaining themselves and their families is through paid employment. If a worker does not receive a living wage for their labour, then they and their families are deprived of the possibilities of obtaining many of the essential elements that contribute to a decent life such as adequate housing, good nutrition, health, rest and access to education. They are deprived of the freedom to make choices about their own lives and are unable to provide opportunities for their children. 

That is why Britain needs a pay rise. Every union should rise up to this challenge with collective action if necessary to achieve this basic human right. 

The Tories bleat about unions striking on July 10 over pay, pensions and workloads and threaten to raise the threshold of ballots with more anti-worker legislation. 

This from a party who couldn’t form a government and had to rely on the puppets from the Lib Dems to push through an agenda of austerity that they had no mandate from the British public to implement.

My union the POA knows all about being restricted when the then Conservative government passed legislation in 1994 to make it illegal for prison officers to take any form of industrial action. 

For 20 years we have been restricted by a disgraceful attack on our basic fundamental rights as workers. 

Sadly we have had to ignore the legislation in 2007 and 2012 and will do so again if it is the will of the membership to protect themselves and their families from attacks on their terms and conditions. 

I do not want to see any other union placed in our position but I fear the writing is on the wall with more anti-worker legislation on the way if the Tories form the next government.

The Labour Party was founded by the trade union movement not the other way around. 

A Labour manifesto needs to be brave to entice voters back. A starting point would be a living wage, but it also needs to get back to basics and set out an agenda that looks after all in society. 

I am sick to death of hearing that Labour supports pay freezes for public sector workers, will bring further “reforms” to welfare and will stop benefits for young people if they don’t get a job. This isn’t what voters want to hear. It would appear there is no difference in the policies of Labour and the Tories. 

I want to see progressive policies that will see an end to the anti-trade union laws, an end to zero-hours contracts, a reversal of the employment tribunal fees and the two-year qualifying period for unfair dismissal. 

I want to see a commitment to building council houses, to securing our NHS from the privateers, to bring the criminal justice system and our prisons back from the private sector and to renationalise our railways and postal service. 

I want to see a fair taxation system and new laws that stop tax avoidance by the rich and big business. 

It can be done. History tells us what a Labour government could achieve after the second world war. There is an opportunity to shape the future. 

If that opportunity is missed I fear that a Conservative government will be returned and that is not a prospect to be welcomed.

Steve Gillan is general secretary of the Prison Officers Association