The TUC general secretary is calling for an alternative economic strategy
The Liberal Democrat leadership is being urged to ensure spending cuts do not hit the poorest in society “disproportionately”.
A motion to be debated at the party’s conference in Liverpool also demands the “inequality gap does not widen”.
It comes as the coalition prepares for next month’s spending review.
On Monday, leader Nick Clegg urged the party to hold its nerve over its coalition agreement and said planned cuts were the “only choice”.
TUC leader Brendan Barber, a vehement critic of the cuts programme, is due to address Lib Dem activists at a fringe meeting on Tuesday.
The conference is the party’s first get-together since its leaders formed a coalition government with the Conservatives in May.
Mr Clegg used his speech on Monday to try to assuage fears that the spending cuts were going too far, too fast.
He argued that they were the “only choice” for improving the economy and his party must “hold our nerve” by remaining in partnership with the Tories for the full five years of this parliament.
The conference motion calls for a commitment that “the most vulnerable in society are not disproportionately affected by the government’s austerity measures and to ensure that the wealth and inequality gap does not widen”.
It argues that Lib Dem ministers should have “freedom and resources” to commission research to “fully assess the viability and practicalities of increasing taxation on wealth – including land values”.
The government must prevent a “lost generation” of unemployed teenagers emerging, while ensuring that publicly owned banks do more to lend to businesses, the motion adds.
Whitehall departments have been told to plan for budget cuts of between 25% and 40% ahead of the spending review.
Ministers say this is necessary to cut the deficit, which reached £155bn last year, in order to improve the UK’s economic performance.
But critics, including Labour and the unions, claim the savings programme will hit growth and damage public services.
Ahead of his speech, Mr Barber said: “There is real concern that the government’s programme of deep spending cuts, while our economy is still fragile, will spark spiralling unemployment in both the public and private sectors.
“As the cuts start to bite and people see the public services they rely on every day under threat, people will begin to ask whether there is an alternative to slash and burn economics.
“The answer is that an alternative strategy – based on growth, employment and a rebalanced economy, and paid for by a fairer tax system so that those who caused the recession start to pay their share – is the best way to achieve a sustainable economic recovery.”
There will also be an address by Chris Huhne, the climate change secretary, on Tuesday.
He has issued a stark warning to gas and electricity providers that he will step in unless they stop imposing “outrageous” hidden price rises on customers.
Mr Clegg, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister, left the conference straight after delivering his speech, as he is scheduled to attend a United Nations summit on world poverty in New York.
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